


After Death

by CJ_fics



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Adventure, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arrow Spoilers, F/M, Multi, Post 3x09, Team Arrow, olicity - Freeform, speculation fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 11:18:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2849006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJ_fics/pseuds/CJ_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Queen wakes up from death and travels home to Starling City. Felicity Smoak, John Diggle and Roy Harper take steps to avenge their fallen leader, friend and hero.</p><p>Speculation fic in the aftermath of 3x09, so there will be spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1 (Oliver Queen)

At first there was pain. Intense, glaring pain. No time, no space, nothing but pain.

He was a universe of pain.  
  
Then, nothing.  
  
\---------  
  
The next time, there's a split second of nothing, of being aware of nothing, before the pain.  
  
The split second becomes a full second. Then two. Then three. At ten, he was aware of time.  
  
Therefore, time existed.  
  
Time between nothing, of being aware of nothing, and the universe of pain.  
  
He counted.  
  
\----------  
  
It wasn't all pain, eventually.  
  
As the space between nothing, the awareness of nothing, and the state of pain lengthened, the pain centred.  
  
Or had centres.  
  
There were parts that were not painful. He just couldn't feel them before.  
  
He focused on the non-painful parts, and learned how to breathe.  
  
\-----------  
  
In breathing, he learned his mass. He occupied space. He was matter.  
  
He became aware of the space he occupied. Aware of the difference in what he was made of and where he lay. Two different types of matter.  
  
He was something. Made up of fleshy matter, some painful, some not.  
  
Where he lay was something else. Wet. Cold. Fluid. Suffocating.  
  
He shivered.  
  
\-------------  
  
Then nothing was filled with something. Light. Images.  
  
A familiar man. Good-looking. Middle-aged. Grey hair. Steady. Confident. Secure. _Is this me?_  
  
A familiar blonde woman. Elegant. Classically beautiful. Strong. Warm. Loving. _Is this me?_  
  
A young girl, curly brown hair, big smile. Innocent. Home. Protect! Protect! Protect! _Is this me?_  
  
Another woman, blonde, too. Beautiful. Peace. Trust. Lust. Happiness. Everything. _Is this -- No, not me!_  
  
 _Felicity._  
  
I am Oliver Queen. I am The Arrow.  
  
He opens his eyes.  
  
\--------------  
  
All he could see was darkness. It was no different from the nothing he had gotten used to. But it was. He knew there was a difference.  
  
He moves, and pain flares. He looks down.  
  
There, the biggest centre of the flaring pain.  
  
He closes his eyes and focusing on the parts that were free of pain.  
  
Feet. Legs. Thighs. Hips.  
  
Everything else hurt.  
  
He breathes.  
  
He vows to move soon.  
  
\---------------  
  
Eventually there is sound. Someone else is with him.  
  
"Felicity?" he whispers, surprised that he can speak, that he can hear his voice. A hoarse grumble.  
  
"No," a voice answers in a whisper. Low. Hushed. Male. Not Felicity.  
  
"I am Oliver Queen," he says.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I am The Arrow," he insists.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I was dead."  
  
"Yes, now you're alive," the voice responds.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Later. Now you rest."  
  
Oliver closes his eyes.  
  
\-------------  
  
As time crawls, the images in the period of nothing multiply.  
  
Some good, mostly bad.  
  
A dark man. Huge. Steady. Loyal. Brother. Friend. John Diggle.  
  
A young man in a red hood. Kid. Friend. Still so innocent. Loyal. Roy Harper.  
  
A tall, skinny woman. Strong. Brittle. Vulnerable. Guilt, so much guilt. Betrayal. Laurel Lance.  
  
Another blonde. Tough. Assassin. Flawed. Beautiful. Graceful. Three arrows on her chest. Dead eyes. Sara.  
  
An island. Running, running, running everywhere. No stopping. Death. Pain. More death.  
  
Two women on their knees, a gun pointed on their heads. One dies, the other lives. But dies again. Twice.  
  
A one-eyed man, so angry.  
  
Another island. Still running. Inflicting pain. Causing death. Under the thumb of evil pretending to do good.  
  
Eventually he learns to turn his mind back to the first images in his nothing.  
  
Dad. Mom. Thea. Felicity.  
  
Adds the good ones to them as reprieve from the bad images.  
  
Dad. Mom. Thea. Felicity. Diggle. Roy.  
  
Felicity. Felicity. Felicity.  
  
\---------------  
  
Then, he remembers. Himself. What he's been through. What he has to do. His mission. Everyone. Everything.  
  
He wakes up.  
  
"Maseo?"  
  
"I was wondering how long until your mind fully recovers," the voice responds. It is Maseo.  
  
Oliver struggles to sit up.  
  
"No, Oliver, you have to remain submerged. You have to fully heal," Maseo says, pushing him down by the chest. It hurts like a motherfucker.  
  
"Fuck!"  
  
"See the point? Don't move."  
  
After the pain subsides enough to allow him to breathe and speak, "Where are we? What's this?"  
  
"Lazarus Pit."  
  
"That's a myth, right?"  
  
"It's not. It's how Ra's Al Ghul has lived for so long," Maseo explains.  
  
"Why are you helping me?"  
  
"Were we not friends a time ago? Were you not there with me as I looked for my family? Did you not put your life on the line to keep my family safe? Did--"  
  
"I failed. I couldn't keep them safe," Oliver interrupts.  
  
"Neither of us could," Maseo says sadly. He takes a deep breath, and continues, "No matter. I owe you. For being the only one around at that moment. For agreeing to sacrifice your humanity for my family's safety. I am paying my debt."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
\----------------  
  
For the next few moments -- it could have been days, weeks, months -- Oliver only asked the questions he knew he could handle the answers to.  
  
 _Where are we?_ In a cave a mile away from the mountain where Ra's defeated Oliver. The Lazarus Pit in the cave was not one that Ra's was aware of. It belonged to his other daughter, Talia, who hated her father and therefore kept the location of this pit from him.  
  
 _How did you know about this?_ Talia had divulged its location to Sara before Talia left the League of Assassins, because she wanted Sara to have a way to bring Nyssa back to life in case something happened. Sara told Maseo about it before she left the League -- making him vow to use it only for himself and for Nyssa. Maseo interpreted Sara's words to also include using the Lazarus Pit on Oliver Queen, the man that Sara had loved and admired.  
  
 _How long do I have to be submerged?_ It depends. Once the pain is gone, then Oliver can stand up.  
  
 _Won't the League look for Maseo?_ No, he was tasked to bring Oliver Queen's body to a burial site deemed worthy of his death. He had requested that he be given time to meditate on where to put the remains as he watched over the body. They had time, Maseo told Oliver.  
  
Oliver never asked how long he had been here, and Maseo never gave out that detail. Oliver didn't want to know. For now. He didn't want to become impatient about leaving and going back to his life and Starling City. Because he knew the moment he asked his questions, and the moment he knew how long he's been gone, he would stop at nothing to leave this cave and --  
  
He breathed deeply, in and out. For eight breaths.  
  
He would remain in this vague time until he was ready.  
  
Then he would move.  
  
\-----------  
  
"You can stand up now," Maseo ordered, "It's time."  
  
Oliver slowly sat up, folding his legs towards his chest to put his body in the perfect position to propel himself to his feet. Except for the shaking muscles caused by not moving for so long, there was no pain. There hasn't been pain for a while now. Not even in the centre of the universe of pain -- his chest, his heart, where Ra's ran a sword through.  
  
He moves steadily to his feet, shivering in the cold are of the cave.  
  
Maseo motions him to  walk towards the bank of the pit, where he was waiting with a thick robe.  
  
Tying the robe around his body, Oliver looks around. The cave was small. Most of it was occupied by the Lazarus Pit, which was roughly ten feet in circumference.  
  
Maseo hands him winter clothes that Oliver quickly changes into after drying his body with the robe.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't let you know the location of this cave. Its location is a secret I vowed to take to my grave. I have overextended the terms of my vow to Sara as it is," Maseo says gravely.  
  
"I understand," Oliver says, turning around so his back faced Maseo. The ultimate sign of trust.  
  
Maseo squeezes his shoulder in acknowledgment of that gesture before delivering a blow to the back of Oliver's head.  
  
\-----------  
  
Branches covering the starry night sky, the difference between the darkness of the bare branches and the dark sky hardly distinguishable if not for the stars peeking through them, was the sight the greets Oliver when he comes to.  
  
He's lying on the snow-covered ground, wet soaking through his clothes. To his right, there's flame. Bonfire. With meat being cooked in it.  
  
He sits up and turns his torso towards the fire.  
  
Maseo nods at him as he tends to roasting meat, "This should be ready in a few minutes. There's a flash of hot tea that you can drink."  
  
Oliver nods in response and moves towards the vacuum flask, pouring the tea in a tin cup, and inhaling the scent. He knows he has to line his stomach with tea before he can handle anything heavier.  
  
"How long was I in the cave?"  
  
"Roughly, four and a half weeks," Maseo answers.  
  
Oliver takes a deep breath, eyes closed, jaws clenched, in an effort to stop himself from panicking at the implications of 'four and a half weeks'.  
  
"Do they -- does the team--"  
  
"A member of the league has told your people about the outcome of your combat with Ra's Al Ghul," Maseo responds calmly.  
  
Oliver tries to stop a sob from coming out of his chest and is largely successful except for the stuttered exhale he couldn't control.  
  
They believed him to be dead. Diggle. Roy, Thea, Felicity. Four and half weeks.  
  
"It wouldn't be the first time you've come back from the dead, right?" Maseo tries to lighten the mood and alleviate Oliver's impending panic.  
  
Oliver shakes his head, "They've already mourned me. Maybe I shouldn't come back this time."  
  
Maseo just nods.  
  
\-------------  
  
After a quiet meal, Maseo speaks up, "Oliver, I have a request to make of you."  
  
"Anything," Oliver says, keeping his eyes on the bonfire. He's been staring at it ever since he opened his eyes after realising how long he has been away and what his friends, partners, knew of him. It was all he could do to stop his mind from going to unbearable thoughts and questions about how they mourned him. Digg. Roy, Thea. Felicity-- Stop!  
  
"You can't make yourself known again until I'm hidden from the League. When you come back from the dead, Ra's Al Ghul will know that I have betrayed him. He will send his assassins after me."  
  
"Can you hide from the League?"  
  
"I have allies."  
  
"Waller?"  
  
"Please, no one should ever mistake me for that villainous woman," a voice from behind him scoffs.  
  
He stands up and turns around to face her, taking a defensive stance, as Maseo bows his head in greeting, getting to his feet as well.  
  
"Talia Al Ghul," she declares, and with a smirk adds, "The Other Heir to the Demon."  
  
She steps closer to where Oliver stands and runs her eyes from his head to his feet, "You survived the Lazarus Pit."  
  
Maseo rushes towards her, explaining, "I'm sorry, Talia. I owe him--"  
  
"It's perfectly all right, Maseo," she declares. "I understand your reasons. I trust that he's unaware of its location?"  
  
"Yes," Maseo responds with a bow as Oliver nods.  
  
"And what is your next move then?" she asks Maseo.  
  
"I can't go back to the League."  
  
"Then you will join mine," Talia declares.  
  
"I'd had hoped to be able to do that," Maseo says.  
  
"You have been part of my league since you started divulging my father and his League's secrets to me and my associates," Talia nods, "This is merely a formality. Your son will be glad to see you."  
  
"Takio?" Oliver exclaims, "He's alive?"  
  
Maseo nods.  
  
"Maseo brought him to me as he was on the brink of death. I brought him to the nearest Lazarus Pit, and revived him. In exchange, I have sole custody of Takio and he will be under my care and tutelage for the rest of his life," Talia explains, "He was the only one I took with me when I left my father's home. The Demon would have ordered my ward sacrificed in retaliation for my defection and betrayal."  
  
"Will I be expected to join your League in exchange for the use of your Lazarus Pit?" Oliver asks.  
  
"It depends, Mr. Queen, on your next move," Talia responds.  
  
"My next move will be what brought me here in the first place: protect my sister and my city from Malcolm Merlyn and Ra's Al Ghul. And anyone who seeks to harm them."  
  
Talia nods, "Very well. It's strategic for me to have powerful allies across the globe. Allies that I can call upon when I so need. Allies whose support I can rely on and expect when I finally make a move take my place at helm of my father's League. Will you be such an ally, Mr. Queen?"  
  
"For as long as your goal is stop Ra's Al Ghul, then our goals are aligned. Beyond that, when you take your place as The Demon, well, we can renegotiate," Oliver declares.  
  
"Wise man," Talia smiles coldly, then runs her eyes on him again, "And if I expect your support in the form of being the sire to my heir, will you be amenable to that?"  
  
Oliver scoffs, "Thank you, but no. My heart, my body, my soul are taken."  
  
"Perhaps we can renegotiate when I'm in my rightful place at the head of the League of Assassins?"  
  
"That will never be up for renegotiation."  
  
Talia smirks but otherwise ignores his response, and turns her attention to Maseo, "We have to make a move soon. Leave the supplies to Mr. Queen, surely, he can make his way home by himself."


	2. Part 2 (Team Arrow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wait at the lair, and the reveal of what happened in the mountain. And Team Arrow's resolve.

By the time Diggle and Roy came back to the lair, Oliver was long gone.  
  
Felicity had been sitting in her usual spot by her computers, busy at work. She’s not allowing herself the time and space to think about forehead kisses and “I love you’s” said in such factual terms. She tells herself there’s time for that later.  Time for her words. Time to reciprocate. _Later, when he returns._  
  
"He’s left?" Digg confirms.  
  
Felicity nods distractedly, fingers flying over her keyboard.  
  
"What are you doing?" Roy asks.  
  
"After Oliver comes back, there’s work to do. We have to stop Merlyn," she responds.  
  
"And how are we going to that?" Digg moves closer to her, looking over her shoulder.  
  
"One step at a time," Felicity says, turning her head to face Digg, "I’m starting with getting my hands on his money."  
  
"Why?" Roy joins Digg behind her.  
  
Felicity spins her chair to face them both fully, “Malcolm Merlyn may have been trained by the League of Assassins, and is a highly intelligent, tactical thinker, but he would not be so powerful, if he didn’t have the means to fund his plans and schemes. I can’t do anything about his abilities as a trained assassin — I’ll leave that to you boys. But I can make sure that his considerable resources are no longer at his disposal. And keep an eye on him. I know where he’s been hiding now. In an apartment right across Thea’s.”  
  
"And you’re doing this now because?" Roy tilts his head at her.  
  
"So, we can be ready to make a move when Oliver gets back," Felicity says with a shrug, turning back to face her monitors.  
  
Digg shares a look with Roy, before putting a gentle hand on Felicity’s shoulder, “Are you all right, Felicity?”  
  
Felicity allows herself three seconds to press her cheek against Digg’s hand on her shoulder before straightening her spine, “We should be ready when Oliver comes back.”  
  
At Digg’s nod, Roy says, “I’m heading upstairs to keep an eye on Thea — and earn a living. You’ll let me know when you have news?”  
  
"Of course," Digg answers, "I’ll prep the van, make sure the med kit is stocked and ready to pick Oliver up when he calls with his location."  
  
"Good," Felicity nods.  
  
———————  
  
In four hours, Felicity had accessed four of seven known offshore Malcolm Merlyn accounts, installed a code on those accounts that will drain all of them with one script and siphon them to the funds for the families of the five hundred three people he had murdered with his earthquake device. She was also on her way to cracking the remaining three accounts, and had a developed a complex search algorithm and code to look for hidden accounts and automatically crack them.   
  
By the time she was done with the seven accounts, by the time the night was over, by her calculation, Malcolm Merlyn will no longer be a multi-billionaire. He would barely be a millionaire.  
  
In different circumstances, she would have pumped her fist in pride for being one of the baddest asses on the internet. But she didn’t feel like celebrating. Not tonight. Not until Oliver comes back.  
  
She allows herself a minute to rest her eyes and give in to her worry.

_Oliver vs. Ra’s Al Ghul. Oliver vs. one of the deadliest men to ever live. Oliver vs. the Demon Head of the League of Assassins. Oliver will come back. He has to. He’s not done. He’s not finished. We’re not done…_  
  
She opens her eyes and shakes her head off those thoughts. _Later_. _When he returns_ , she vows to herself.  
  
Now it was time to look into Malcolm Merlyn’s known aliases and alert all government agencies about them.   
  
————————-  
  
Roy tried his best to act as if his stomach wasn’t twisted in worry over the current state of his mentor and friend. He knew that Felicity was afraid over his impending fight with Ra’s Al Ghul, she was that sure that Oliver would survive the dangerous climb up to the mountain top where he will battle the assassin. Roy wasn’t so sure.   
  
He must have wiped the bar and all the table tops in Verdant at least a dozen times each, over the course of the evening. Something that didn’t escape Thea’s attention.  
  
"Have you suddenly developed some kind of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder lately, Roy?" she asks with a flirty smile.  
  
He tried, damn how he tried, to return the easy and light smile she was flashing at him. But he couldn’t. He could barely look at her.   
  
Partly, he was ashamed. He should have insisted to go with Oliver. Should have followed him without his knowledge. Be there for the man who promised to never abandon him, and who lived up to that promise. Be there for Thea’s brother.  
  
A part of him felt sick that Thea could still smile so easily because she had no idea what her brother was doing. For her. She had the right to know, and to worry, and to not smile so easily. Roy wanted her to know. It was only fair.  
  
 _She is the reason why this was all happening_ , he thinks, surprising himself at the bitterness of his thoughts.  
  
"Roy, is everything all right?" Thea frowns, smile fading.  
  
At the sight of her worried eyes and her down-turned mouth, he forces a smile. It’s not her fault. She didn’t know. _I was the one who pushed her to turn to Malcolm Merlyn_ , he tells himself.   
  
"Nah," he responds, turning away with a shrug, "There was some review about one of the other clubs, complaining about how dirty the place was, and it would be bad for business, if we got the same review, right?"  
  
"Such a responsible assistant manager," she teases before walking away with a wink, "Keep it up!"  
  
"Sure, boss," he nods, forced smile in place.  
  
He fishes his phone from his back pocket, checking to see if there was any news from Felicity or Digg.  
  
Nothing.  
  
He goes back to wiping down the bar.  
  
—————————  
  
Digg finished prepping the van and the med kit in record time. It’s a task that he has done many times, in his time in the military and his time as a member of Oliver’s team.   
  
For some reason though, he felt that he was forgetting something. So he re-checks the med kit, and stocks triple of what they normally have in there. Then he organises an extra med kit with double of everything.   
  
He’s accepted that Oliver would need medical attention after his battle with Ra’s Al Ghul. Believing anything less would be delusional. Believing anything more is unacceptable.  
  
He checks that there are enough thick blankets, winter coats and pants for Oliver and for the rest of team for when they pick him up. Then he assures himself that there’s enough weapons in the van, just in case they have to go through some League members to get to Oliver.   
  
Then he examines the tyres and their chains, then opens the hood of the van to check that everything was working. Brake fluid filled. Brake lines attached. He goes through the list in his head once again.  
  
The climb up wherever Oliver went would be perilous, Digg knows. He needs to make sure that the van is ready for it.  
  
When he’s scrutinised everything, from top to bottom, and ticked off his mental lists of things they had to equip the van with — multiple times, he takes a deep breath.  
  
This is all he could do for now. He had wanted, he had offered, to do more. But Oliver wouldn’t allow it — for good reasons. While Digg would never leave his brother to face an enemy as great as Ra’s Al Ghul, he knew he didn’t have that luxury anymore. He had a daughter now. He had a wife-to-be. He’s accepted and respected, with great pain and remorse, Oliver’s refusal for him to stand beside him tonight.  
  
All he could do is hope and vow that when Oliver has fulfilled his combat with Ra’s Al Ghul, he, John Diggle, will stop at nothing to do what he can to make sure that Oliver heals from this, and finds his own happiness.  
  
He calls Lyla.  
  
"Hey," Lyla greets as she picks up the phone, "How are you holding up?"  
  
"Good, van’s ready. We’re just waiting for Oliver to send us word," Digg says. "How’s Sara?"  
  
"Good. With two baby sitters, in fact. ARGUS approved ones. I’m on my way to the foundry," Lyla responds.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Have you guys had anything to eat tonight, at all?"  
  
"Yeah, we forgot about that."  
  
"I thought so. I have take out," Lyla says.  
  
"You’re the best, you know that?" Digg smiles.  
  
"Oh, I know, Johnnie," she says with a smile.  
  
"I can’t wait to tell the team about our news," he smiles back.  
  
"When Oliver gets back."  
  
"Yes, when Oliver gets back."  
  
—————-  
  
"It’s been six hours, still no word?" Roy asks as he makes his way down from the club above.

Lyla had come and gone, staying only to have dinner with John and Felicity. With a hug for Felicity and a kiss for John, she left soon after to go home to Sara.  
  
Felicity shakes her head in response, still busy with her computers.  
  
"Ra’s Al Ghul is not an easy adversary to kill," she says.  
  
"We should all probably get some rest," Digg suggests.  
  
"Go home, Digg," Felicity responds, "Go home to Lyla and Sara. I can wait here."  
  
"Don’t you have a job to get to in like three hours?" Roy asks, "I can do the waiting."  
  
"Didn’t you just come back from your job?" Felicity responds with an eye roll, "You should get some rest, Roy. I can call in sick tomorr— err, today."  
  
"You have to rest, too, Felicity," Digg says gently.  
  
"Later. After," she murmurs, rubbing the middle of her chest. There’s been a dull, throbbing pain, left of centre of it that started thirty minutes ago. She couldn’t explain it.  
  
It worried her. But she denied it, the worry, the feeling, what she suspects it meant.   
  
She refocuses her attention on her tasks.

All seven of Merlyn’s known bank accounts cracked and ready to be drained once they make their move, once Oliver gets back (she ignores the voice in the back of her head, coming from that gaping hole in her chest, that whispers, ‘if’). She’s tracked down all of his known aliases as well, and in the process of breaking into different federal databases to update their files on Malcolm Merlyn, to alert them when he uses one of those aliases.  
  
She hears Digg and Roy warming up to spar behind her, and feels a rush of love and appreciation for the two of them. They were in this together — this unbearable wait for their friend, their teammate, their leader, their _man_ to come back home. It would have been more unbearable to be alone at this time.  
  
She absentmindedly rubs her chest again, a sense of fear swooping in her stomach.  
  
Someone clears their throat behind her, Felicity spins her chair to face the sound just as Digg and Roy stop sparring to turn their escrima sticks on the intruder.  
  
Nyssa Al Ghul is standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking straight at Felicity.  
  
"No…" Felicity murmurs, her hands going to her mouth as if to keep the word in. The pain in her chest intensifies.  
  
Digg rushes to her as Roy takes fast steps towards Nyssa.   
  
The assassin ignores him, and bows from her waist, “It was honourable exit.”  
  
Roy flings his escrima stick towards one of the glass arrow cases, screaming, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”, before falling on his knees in tears.  
  
Digg clenches his fists, unable to control the stuttering sob that escapes his chest.  
  
It was Felicity who stood up and faced Nyssa, “An honourable exit? AN HONOURABLE EXIT? What’s honourable about dying for a crime that he didn’t commit? What’s honourable about fighting a demon right after climbing up a mountain, with his bare hands, without any rest and respite? Without his friends, his family, at his back? You, your father, your League, what do you know of honour? _Nothing!_ ”  
  
Before Nyssa could respond, Felicity continues, “Did you stand there and do nothing while your father killed him? Or did you help your father? Did you relish it? Did you think it was just? Did you believe that his death would alleviate your pain? Did you think your pain and suffering justified his death? Do you believe Sara is smiling down on you for having a hand in the death of the man she loved, admired and respected? The man for whom she went back to a life she didn’t want in exchange for your assistance? She’s not! I can assure you of that. Instead of honouring her, you have spat at her memory and everything she stood for! You have dishonoured Sara by standing by and doing nothing when your father threatened to kill innocent people and forced Oliver to battle him. Don’t speak to me about honour! You have none of it, Nyssa Al Ghul!”  
  
"Felicity," Nyssa mournfully approaches her, jaws clenched, hand extended.  
  
"Where’s his body?" Felicity asks, meeting the assassin’s eyes head on.  
  
"A member of the League has been tasked to give him a proper burial," the other woman responds, "I volunteered to be the one to tell you."  
  
"A proper burial away from the people who loved him?" Digg protests, standing behind Felicity, as she says, "Did volunteer to gloat? Rub our faces in the fact that you finally got your justice for Sara’s death?"  
  
"The moment Oliver Queen challenged my father, he belonged to us. If he had been victorious, he would have taken my father’s place. His burial will be under League terms and law," Nyssa addresses Digg, who slams a fist down the med table at her words.  
  
Nyssa turns back to Felicity, “I did not come here to gloat. I take no pleasure in Oliver Queen’s death. Under our laws, his death is sufficient justice for Sara’s death. And I believe in our laws. My father wishes to assure you that all blood debts are paid, in full. The League will leave your city alone, and will not pursue this matter any further. Let that be a comfort. Oliver Queen’s sacrifice was not in vain.”  
  
Nyssa bows to them one more time before turning to head back up the stairs.  
  
"Nyssa Al Ghul," Felicity calls in a loud voice, "I will do what I do best. I will bide my time. I will gather information. I will learn everything I can about you, your father, and your family. I will gather allies. Some way, some day, somehow, there will be vengeance upon you, your father and your League."  
  
Nyssa turns back and glares at Felicity, “It is ill-advised to court war with us, Felicity Smoak.”  
  
"I’m not courting anything. I am swearing my vow. According to your laws, I am well within my right to do so. Now you owe us a blood debt," Felicity turns away, "Now scurry back to your coward father and your dishonourable League."  
  
"In understanding of your sorrow, I will not tell my father about these words, Felicity Smoak," Nyssa says, "It’s the least I could do."  
  
"I don’t care," Felicity says as she heads to where Roy is kneeling, "Leave."  
  
"Very well."  
  
As soon as Nyssa’s footsteps are no longer audible from the lair, Felicity wraps her arms around Roy’s shoulders and assists him to his feet. Digg takes the young man’s other side, and together they walk Roy to the med table.   
  
Together they stand in silence, Roy’s sobs the only sound in the foundry. They lose all sense of time, lost in shock and grief.  
  
"So what now?" Roy eventually asks, wiping his face.  
  
Felicity and Digg share a resolute look and give each other a single nod.  
  
"Now, we find a way to destroy Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul and everyone who has had a hand in this," Felicity responds.   
  
"Now, we plan," Digg adds, "You in?"  
  
"Fuck, yes."


	3. Part 3 (Oliver Queen)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver deals with the side effects of the Lazarus Pit -- in the middle of forest in winter.

As Maseo and Talia prepare to head away from him and this location, Talia hands Oliver two swords and a small bag.  
  
"These are tea leaves from Ra’s Al Ghul’s private tea plantation. I have seen him take this after he uses his Lazarus Pits. Not much is known about the effects of the Lazarus Pit beyond its restorative properties. My father has hinted that there are adverse effects on individuals who are not worthy and strong enough for it. The tea might alleviate some of the effects. Use it sparingly."  
  
Oliver takes the items with a nod of thanks.   
  
"Maseo has been gone for a while now. I expect my father will send his pawns to verify his status soon. Use the swords on them," she takes one of the swords out from its scabbard, holds it out to the light, and tilts to blade. It’s marked with a unique wave pattern, a combination of sharp angles and soft curves, "And, if asked, tell them it is by Talia Al Ghul’s generosity that you live."  
  
Oliver nods at Talia in agreement, “I will not put Maseo at risk.”  
  
"Very well," Talia gives Oliver a decisive nod, "I am sure I will see you again soon. But, if I am wrong about you, then farewell."  
  
She walks into the dark forest without looking back, and disappears into the shadows.  
  
"Maseo," Oliver turns to his friend, and extends his right hand, "I owe you. Thank you."  
  
Maseo shakes Oliver’s hand, and uses it to pull the younger man close, “I owed you first, Oliver. All debts are paid.”  
  
"Not for me," Oliver vows, "I will repay you when you ask."  
  
"Very well," Maseo nods, pulling away from Oliver, "Give us two weeks before making your status known to your team and to the rest of Starling City. That will give us enough time to be safely hidden from the League. The nearest town is Northwest from this location."  
  
"All right."  
  
Maseo and Oliver bow to each other.  
  
"We will see each other again, Oliver Queen," Maseo says before disappearing where Talia did, leaving Oliver alone in the cold.  
  
—————-  
  
The first thing Oliver does when he is alone is to look up at the skies. He knows he needs to orient himself on his location, and the stars can help him do that.  
  
He thinks back to quiet time in Lian Yu with Shado, teaching him how to navigate through the stars in the sky.   
  
_"Find Ursa Major," she had said, "That’s where North always is."_  
  
He bows his head in thanks to her for her lessons, her love, her generosity, her wisdom, when he finds the grouping of stars that point him North.  
  
Now he knows where to go.  
  
——————  
  
Oliver takes the piece of charcoal he had taken from the campfire from one of his pants pockets, lifts his left pant leg, and marks his leg with a line. _Day 1._

His first day after waking up from death.  
  
The sun was up on towards his right, placing the time of the day at eleven in the morning. It was safe enough for him to climb up a tree with branches strong enough to hold him, and take some time to sleep.  
  
He was planning to sleep during the day, and make his way out of the snow-covered forest into the nearest town during the night. That way, no one can catch him unaware.  
  
He knows whoever is out to hunt him here, hunts best at night. Luckily for him, he was just as nocturnal as they are.  
  
He falls asleep as soon as he situates himself comfortable enough on a branch about seven feet above ground, and hidden from below.  
  
The dreams start as soon as he closes his eyes.  
  
They were good dreams. Sensations, smells, feelings, images, voices, snippets of conversations that ease and comfort him.  
  
 _"My beautiful boy…"_  
  
 _"I have never been more proud of you…"_  
  
 _"Ollie, come look at the humongous horse daddy bought me for my birthday!"_  
  
 _"Ollie, you’re the best. I love you!"_  
  
 _"You’re not alone, Oliver. Not since, I — we — joined this crusade."_  
  
 _"I believe in you."_  
  
 _"Like a hero."_  
  
On and on, the words, the images of his happiest memories, run through his dreams… Then they turn ugly.  
  
His mother being run through with Slade Wilson’s sword … Realising that Thea had been lying to him … Tommy impaled on the chest with a metal pipe … Sara with three arrows in her chest, eyes blank but still open … Felicity walking away from him … Sara being swallowed by the ocean as she reaches for him and calls out his name … Ivo putting a bullet in the back of Shado’s head … Stabbing Slade’s eye with an arrow … Shooting Ivo in the chest … Stabbing his own chest to get to Malcolm Merlyn … Felicity and Ray kissing passionately … Images of countless, nameless men he’s tortured. Gory. Bloody. In pain Their screams … Deathstroke’s blade against Felicity’s throat … A gun pointed at her head … His father saying the words, “Live, survive”, before putting a bullet in his own head…   
  
He wakes up when he hits the ground with a scream, “Dad, no!”  
  
He retches on the ground, sobbing, calling out their names again and again, pulling out his hair.  
  
It takes him a while to recover and begin heading North again.  
  
—————————  
  
It becomes a pattern. He would wait until he was exhausted from walking, hunting, surviving, before finding a spot to rest in. The dreams would always start out wonderful, putting him in a deep sense of calmness and peace, before they turn nasty.   
  
He couldn’t even have enough consciousness and self-awareness to recognise the pattern when he was sleeping. He would always fall for the same happiness in his dreams. Always be disarmed by happiness against the nightmares.  
  
The details have become more life-like. He now remembers how his mother smelled, how her tasteful and light perfume always brought to mind visions of perfection for him. How Thea smelled when he first held her when she was born, and how that smell remained in the back of his mind every time he embraces her up until now. He now dreams vividly of how Felicity tasted when he kissed her (sweet, minty, with a hint cherry flavour, he suspects comes from her lipstick), how her skin feels underneath his hands (soft, velvety, supple), how soft and wet her lips were, her light jasmine scent. It’s as if the kiss had only happened a few minutes before he started dreaming.   
  
Every good dream was heightened.  
  
And so did the details of his nightmares. He now remembers what it felt like to hold a piece of brain matter in his hands — from when his father shot himself and from when he caught Shado after Ivo shot the back of her head. He now has perfect recollection of the sound, the sticky, wet sound, of sword or an arrow passing through flesh, and being pulled out.   
  
He tries to stave off sleeping for as long as he could. He occupies his mind with thoughts of survival, hunting and foraging for his food, getting clean water, but also thoughts of home. Does he deserve to go back home? To come back from the dead yet again? How will his friends react? How will Thea, Diggle, Roy, and Felicity react? How have they grieved? How can he live with himself for making them suffer with his death? And selfishly, secretly, he fears that it might break his heart to see them recover from his death.   
  
He knows it’s unfair of him to think that way. But the sight, the memory, the feeling of witnessing Felicity move forward with her life without him, without looking back at him, is fresh in his mind (with her kissing Ray playing on loop, right between visions of his other nightmares, in his head every night). And he knows how much that hurts, even though, he’s knows he’s solely to blame for it.  
  
He reminds himself that all he wants for her, for all of them, is to be happy. With or without him.  
  
With thoughts of survival and of home, he is able to push his body to the limit, to delay resting. But his body always eventually gives out.   
  
And when it does, he dreams.  
  
——————————  
  
It’s on the twelfth day (he knows because in his waking, lucid hours, he remembers to mark his leg with the charcoal with what day it is) that the pattern changes.  
  
The League of Assassins make themselves known to him as soon as he regains consciousness from that day’s nightmare. It’s early evening, and they have him surrounded.  
  
"We’ve been watching you, Oliver Queen," a male voice from behind the balaclava declare, "How is it you are still alive?".  
  
The rest of his comrades, six of them, take their positions closer around Oliver’s hunched form.  
  
Oliver stands, taking his swords out of their scabbard on his back. He extends one of the swords to the light, and tilts the blade to show them the markings, “Talia Al Ghul.”  
  
"Impossible!" another voice, this time female, cries, "She has betrayed the Demon, so she has perished!"  
  
Oliver shrugs, and remains silent.   
  
"And what of Sarab?" the first voice insists.  
  
"I know nothing of Sarab," Oliver responds.  
  
"Very well," the voice says, "Perhaps when you are at the brink of death, your tongue will be loose enough to tell the truth. Otherwise, we have ways to pry the truth from your corpse."  
  
With that, all seven release their swords from their scabbards, the sound uniform, sharp and clear in the silent winter air. They attack as one unit.  
  
But Oliver Queen, fueled by the conflicting emotions of his dreams and nightmares, by the kind of extreme fatigue that has turned into numbness, by the clarity brought about by sheer desperation, is a monster. A silent monster whose blades arc into the night, relieving the assassins of their blood and their lives. His moves are calculated even though he is guided, not by his conscious mind, but by his instinct. The killing instinct carved into his body and muscles by five years in hell. The killing instinct that has replaced the blood in his veins after four and half weeks of waking up from death.   
  
_Survive! Don’t die! Survive! Death will not come for you again! Death will fear you!_  
  
When it’s over, when all seven lay dead at his feet, Oliver stops moving and wakes up.  
  
Then he screams in horror.  
  
————————-  
  
After, he hides the bodies behind trees and under snow.

He knows that more will come for him and he needs to get out of the forest and off their trail as quickly as possible. He knows he also needs to return to Starling City as soon as possible, before the League of Assassins figure out that he’s alive and take vengeance on his loved ones.   
  
Whatever dilemma he has had about not deserving to come back from the dead yet again, whatever trepidations he has about how to deal with the sorrow his friends — his sister, his brothers, his Felicity — have had to deal with because of his death, whatever fears he may have at the back his mind about his heart-breaking with the thought of seeing them move on from him, all of those he swept aside. He will protect them.   
  
He runs to the nearest town for two days straight. Only stopping to rest for a few minutes, drink water and, sometimes to chew on the tea leaves that Talia had left him. The tea leaves sustain him, give him strength, and help clear his mind. But he reminds himself to use it sparingly, as Talia had advised him.  
  
Upon reaching the small town at the foot of the mountain, he steals a truck and follows the signs to Starling City.  
  
There’s feeling of relief to have the decision of whether or not to return to Starling City taken out of his hands by the knowledge that Ra’s Al Ghul will send assassins for his loved ones upon learning that he did not remain dead. There’s clarity for him now. He will protect everyone, his friends, his family, his love, his city. What will happen after, he will worry about once this threat is neutralised and vanquished.  
  
He arrives back home forty-five days after he left to face Ra’s Al Ghul.  
  
For the first time in what feels like decades for him, he breathes a sigh of relief.  
  
As soon as he reaches the city limits, he finds an alley to park the truck, and promptly passes out.


	4. Part 4 (Team Arrow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team mourns Oliver, and take steps to avenge him.

Sometimes, Felicity thinks the cruelest thing is that they never returned his body.  
  
There was no remains for them to hold for one last time. Nothing to whisper the words she meant to say to him after he returned to. Nothing to kiss one last time. No body to honour with a proper burial. No remains to throw dirt on as a final rite. Nothing to lay flowers on.  
  
She found a solution, somewhat a solution, to that. She gained access to and control of the Queen Mansion, where his tombstone still rests from his death seven years ago.  
  
It gave her, John and Roy a physical space, a thing, to pay their respects to, to honour him and all that he meant. It was the place where they allowed themselves to grieve him.  
  
Sometimes, it helped. Sometimes.  
  
—————-  
  
 _Four and a half weeks ago …_  
  
"The first order of business is to find a new base of operations, we can’t work out of this any more," Digg suggested.  
  
It was the day after the news of Oliver’s death reached them. The day after each of them spent a sleepless night in their respective homes, crying tears for their fallen hero, finding ways to pick themselves up from their shared tragedy to continue. To function. To avenge him. To claim justice.   
  
Digg has spent the night staring at little Sara, whispering in her ears stories about a man, his brother in everything but blood, who would have protected her at all cost. The who would — should — have been right beside him as he practised his fatherly privilege the first three times Sara brought home someone who wanted to date her. Boy or girl, it didn’t matter. He would have threatened them bodily harm for even thinking about hurting his baby girl, and Oliver would had stood there, glaring silently at the poor sap. Perhaps even playing with one of his or Lyla’s guns to prove a point.   
  
Digg told his baby girl about his friend, his partner, his hero, shedding tears about how she would never get to know Oliver Queen, never be loved by him, and never be protected the way The Arrow can protect those he loves.  
  
Lyla watched from the doorway of Sara’s bedroom, crying silent tears at the sight of her love, her husband-to-be, the father of her child, grieving; but knowing that he needed this space, this time with his daughter.  
  
"Can we afford to do that?" Roy asked. He looked like he had spent all night binge-drinking and getting into fights.   
  
He did. He needed an outlet for his rage, so after they agreed to head home for the evening and reconvene in a few hours, he went straight for the sleaziest bar in the Glades, and proceeded to get shit-faced drunk. Then he started a brawl which lasted fifteen minutes. Then he went to second sleaziest bar, and the did the same thing. Then the third. Then the fourth. Rinse and repeat.  
  
So, here he was, dehydrated and hung-over, bruises on his face and under his clothes. Still grief-stricken.   
  
"The three of us? No," Felicity responded, "But I know someone who can."  
  
Felicity spent her evening in silence. As soon as she entered her flat, she sat on the couch and stared into nothing. She stayed still, unmoving, not crying, not sleeping, not resting, clutching her purse to her chest with one arm, while the she absently rubbed the fingers of her other hand on each other, for hours. There was nothing for her grief but silence and stillness.   
  
She only moved when Digg called her to ask her to meet at the foundry.  
  
As she showered that morning, she planned.   
  
At Digg and Roy’s looks of disbelief, Felicity explained to him the conversation she had with Ray, about his plans for Starling City, about him asking her for help. To her, it felt like that conversation happened in another universe, another time, another her.  
  
Well, yeah, she thought to herself. That was a universe, a time, a her when Oliver Queen still lived.  
  
"I can get him to find us another base of operations as part of my agreeing to help him with his crusade," Felicity said.  
  
"Are you okay to do that?" Digg asked.  
  
"Yes, I’m going to get him to buy the Queen Mansion for us. And get him to hire you as a body guard, Digg. Roy, I think you should continue working here at Verdant. Is that all right with you?"  
  
At Roy’s nod, she continued, “Now all we need is to find a way to move all of this to our new base.”  
  
"I think Lyla would be able to help with that," Digg responded.  
  
They talked about their plans some more. They agreed to keep Oliver’s whereabouts and death within the team.   
  
They concocted cover stories for Oliver’s whereabouts for those who didn’t know his secret identity, and for those who knew.   
  
They agreed to continue their team’s crusade to protect the city. Digg would wear the Arrow suit and go and patrols with Arsenal every night to protect Oliver’s identity as the vigilante.   
  
Donning the suit every night was one of the hardest things John Diggle has had to endure in his life. But he knew he must do it — to protect the city, to honour his brother-in-arms, to continue their mission, to bide their time until they had everything ready to avenge their friend.  
  
After that conversation, she headed for work where the first task she assigned herself was to talk to Ray.  
  
"Are you serious about helping Starling City? Keeping it safe?" she asked as she walked into his office. The thought of walking into hers, the office that Oliver once occupied as C.E.O., was unbearable to her.  
  
"Yes, and good morning to you, too, Ms. Smoak," Ray smiled, getting up from his desk to step closer to her.   
  
"Good, I can help you," she said, forcing a smile back. It felt like a grimace to her facial muscles, "But there are a few things we will — you will — need."  
  
"Is everything all right with you, Felicity?" he reached a hand out to touch her arm.   
  
"Everything’s fine," she answered, pulling her arm from his hold as gently as she could, "First, you will need a base of operations, that’s not here. If you want to keep your identity a secret, which I suggest you do. And you will need someone to train you to fight. Even though your A.T.O.M. suit is highly powerful, it would be good for you to have some hand-to-hand combat training — just in case."  
  
"You sound like you’ve done this before," he teased, wanting a glimpse of the usual Felicity Smoak, and not this sad, cold version with no sense of humour.  
  
She stared at him for a long time before saying, “I’ve watched a lot of science fiction and superhero movies.”  
  
"All right, I’m not arguing against Scifi wisdom," Ray responded flirtatiously, "Any ideas where and who?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
————————-  
  
It took a week to finalise the paper work for the sale of the Queen Mansion to Palmer Technologies, and a couple of days to set up the A.T.O.M. base, including the secret move of their Arrow base to the mansion. Upon Felicity’s recommendation, Ray hired Diggle as his hand-to-hand combat trainer and brought him into his plans to protect Starling City.  
  
It took another week for them to test run different versions of the A.T.O.M. suit by having Ray stop small crimes in the city. Digg made sure to don the Arrow suit without Ray’s knowledge after his training with the billionaire was done, and work with Arsenal to stop other crimes. Felicity manned the comms for both the A.T.O.M. and Team Arrow in separate channels, guiding the vigilante heroes in their separate but similar crusades.  
  
When Thea, and later Laurel, asked for Oliver whereabouts, they told them two different stories. For Thea, Digg told her that he was taking a break, traveling around Canada, to recover from the past few months. For Laurel, Roy told her that Oliver was in the middle of an undercover operation for A.R.G.U.S. that would take him away from Starling for a fair bit. Laurel predictably greets that information with anger and bitterness over Oliver not delivering on his commitment to find Sara’s killer. That, yet again, Oliver was unreliable and that it was up to her to find out who killed Sara, and to avenge her sister.   
  
It took tremendous self-control for Roy to not rave and rant at Laurel’s self-righteousness. But he knew that they had to keep Oliver’s death a secret. For Thea’s sake. And until they were ready to make their move on Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins.  
  
By the third week, the A.T.O.M. suit was fully operational and Ray was ready to take on bigger crimes at night. He seems to enjoy the new role he’s found for himself in their city. Felicity wishes she was still capable of feeling satisfied, proud, thrilled and happy over a man discovering his capacity to be a hero. But whatever made it possible for to feel that way about anyone dried up by time Nyssa’s footsteps on the foundry stairs faded. There’s nothing left of that in her.  
  
So, she listens to him gush and be excited, all the while thinking what she missed in her search for information she can use against Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins. She gives Ray Palmer that much.  
  
Within that time, Felicity had learned to function in her multiple lives and identities. Vice President for Palmer Technologies. A.T.O.M tech support. Secret Team Arrow member, assisting Digg and Roy, and hacking her way into cyberspace to lay traps for and find out all that she can about their targets. And the person, the woman, who spent the time in between those lives, sitting still and silent in her couch, staring at nothing. The same person who started her night job by stopping by Oliver Queen’s graveyard upon entering the Queen grounds.  
  
It is in this fractured existence that she can function. Because the glue that held her identity together was gone, and she could never be put back together again.  
  
This is her new normal.  
  
————————  
  
Sometimes, she slept. And dreamt.  
  
One sense at a time.  
  
First, there’s his scent. A heady mix of leather, citrus, pine and pepper that never failed to comfort her.  
  
Then, sound. His voice saying fragments of conversations past going on and on in her head, making her smile.  
  
 _"There was just something about you…"_  
  
 _"It was red."_  
  
 _"Don’t ask me to say I don’t love you."_  
  
 _"… you know how I feel about her."_  
  
 _"You will always be my girl."_  
  
 _"You’re not going to lose me."_  
  
 _"You’re my partner."_  
  
 _"You’re remarkable."_  
  
 _"I love you."_  
  
 _"Felicity Smoak? Hi, I’m Oliver Queen."_  
  
Then the visuals.  
  
The first time she saw him up close. The uncertain, yet genuine, smile on his face, turning his beautiful face even more stunning.   
  
His blue, oh-so-blue, eyes. The long, almost-feminine lashes, such a contrast to his unmistakably-male jaw. Such an attractive contrast.   
  
The full bottom lip. Pink. The smirk.  
  
His glistening body, shirtless, always shirtless. Scars, violent scars, that are a testament to what he’s endured, and therefore, beautiful. Gargantuan arms and tree-trunk thighs.  
  
In a business suit. In v-neck sweaters and denim. In green leather.  
  
His face in candlelight. Awed. Nervous. Shy. Heart in his eyes.  
  
His clenched jaw.   
  
The smile, the many smiles, he flashes at her. One for each situation. One for when he thinks she’s done something amazing. One for when he wants to laugh at her babbling but is too polite to do so. The one when he’s exasperated by her, but can’t work up the energy to be truly angry. And the one, her favourite, when he looks at her as if he loves her.  
  
Then, touch.  
  
His hand, heavy and yet always so gentle, on her shoulder, squeezing.   
  
The tips of his fingers trailing down her upper arm before cupping her elbow to pull her next to him.  
  
The scratchy stubble in the palms of her hands. Ticklish and thrilling.  
  
Strong arms around her waist, a hand tenderly placed on her lower back.  
  
The dry, hard, calloused hands, cupping her jaw, so, so gently.  
  
His soft lips. Wet. Gentle. On her own. On her forehead.  
  
His breath on her nape whenever he would sigh helplessly at her.  
  
Then, taste.  
  
Dark, velvety, sweet, minty and musky all at once when he kissed her that one time.  
  
She always feels the loss of him the most after waking up from her dreams. That is the only time she allows herself to cry, to feel, to acknowledge that he will only ever exist when she sleeps.  
  
So, she avoids sleeping. Because waking up hurts too much.  
  
That became part of her new normal, too.  
  
———————-  
  
Sometimes, she thinks she should be thankful that there wasn’t a body to bury.  
  
She doesn’t think she can handle seeing his lifeless body. To see him reduced to that.  
  
Sometimes, she appreciates that her last memory of him was his confident, borderline cocky, stride away from her as he resolved to protect his sister, and vowed his love for her. Then she remembers that she never said the words back, and she becomes a well of regret and remorse.   
  
She doesn’t think she — _they_ — can handle proof undeniable of Oliver’s final fate. Not having a body to bury, just having a gravestone with no one occupying it, was a mercy.  
  
It kept hope alive. For her. For John. For Roy. For the only people who knew what happened to Oliver Queen. For the only people who knew, but sometimes denied, the truth about his death.  
  
It gave them hope on the days when the grief became too much to bear. It gave her hope whenever she turns into a creature of remorse, regret and sadness whenever she wakes up from her dreams. That he was alive somewhere, somehow. And that he would return.  
  
It fueled them to continue. To function. To avenge him. To claim justice.  
  
When she realises that the League of Assassins may have desecrated his remains, all the hope in the world becomes nothing in comparison to her anger and rage.


	5. Part 5 (Oliver Queen)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver wakes up Starling City.

As soon as he wakes up, cramped in the cab of the truck he stole, muscles screaming in agony and fatigue, he heads for his secondary lair. The same one he went to after his mother died.  
  
His team knew that he kept that place to store weapons and supplies, and as somewhere for him to go to when he needed time alone.   
  
He decided, with a heavy heart, that letting his team know that he was alive needed to be held off until he had a better sense of what their enemies were up to, and what his partners have been up to as well. Part of him wishes, with equal hope and despair, that they moved forward with their lives, leaving the vigilante life behind. That they took his death as a sign to lead peaceful lives for themselves — Digg with Lyla and Sara, Roy with Thea, and Felicity with … whoever could make her the happiest.  
  
He admits to himself that a large part of him is not ready to face the possibility that they had left the life they shared with him behind, and that is one of the reasons that he’s delaying showing up again in their lives. If, he finds that they are leading happier, more peaceful lives now, he vows to never make himself known again. He will stay in Starling City only to make sure that they are safe, and find another life away from it, to be something other than Oliver Queen.

 _After I know for myself that they are safe,_ he promises himself.  
  
He ditches his stolen truck, vowing to send a replacement to its owner after this was all over, two blocks away from the place.  
  
After showering, changing his clothes, waiting for the cover of night, he gets on his motorcycle and heads out, relieved to be back in his city.  
  
———————-  
  
Dressed in all black, with a black beanie and balaclava covering his head and face, he climbs up the side of Thea’s apartment.  
  
The lights in her living room are on, and she’s on the phone when he sneaks lands on the balcony. As silent as a cat.  
  
"Chase, will you listen to me?" Thea smiles, "I’ll see you at Verdant soon, all right? I’m just chilling at home, getting ready. I have some things to attend to, then I’ll head there in a bit. Yes, yes. You want me to be there when you start spinning, and I will. No, I don’t pick me up. I can make my way to my club by myself…"  
  
Oliver is relieved to hear Thea sound happy and not depressed. It means that his partners didn’t tell her about what happened to him. It means that she’s still unaware of what her father did to her. It means that she’s still safe.   
  
"Hey, Chase, there’s another call coming, I’ll see you soon, all right?" Thea pushes a button on her phone, and with a big smile, places her phone back to her ear, "Dad! What’s up?"  
  
 _So, she’s still in touch with Malcolm Merlyn_ , he realises with a pang in his heart.  
  
————————  
  
He follows Thea to Verdant on his bike.  
  
He watches as Roy loads garbage bins in the alley beside Verdant from below where he has positioned himself, hidden on the rooftop of the club, greeting Thea when she arrives.  
  
"Hey, Roy," she says when she sees Roy, "Everything ready for the evening?"  
  
Roy nods, and turns to Thea, “Everything all right with you?”  
  
"Sure," she answers, "Hey, I’ll need to step out for a bit after we open for the night. I need to meet with some of the club investors for a few hours. Is that all right?"  
  
"No problem," Roy shrugs, "I’ll keep an eye on things while you’re gone."  
  
"Thanks," Thea smiles and nods at Roy before entering Verdant.  
  
Once he makes sure that Thea is in the club and out of ear shot, he fishes his phone from his back pocket.  
  
"Hey, Felicity," he says as soon as he’s connected, "I think Thea’s going to meet up with her father tonight. I think he’ll let her know about what happened. You got an eye on her and him? All right. Do you want me to head there?  Sin can watch over the club tonight. Okay … You and Digg got this? Cool. I’ll see you when I’m done here. Bye."  
  
 _Felicity_ , Oliver sighs. What he wouldn’t give to see her right this moment, to make sure she’s all right, and to just … bask in her.  
  
 _Soon, I’ll see her soon_ , he tells himself.  
  
Now, he has to stay put for a bit until his sister leaves to meet with her father.   
  
—————————-  
  
Thea meets Malcolm in an abandoned warehouse two blocks away from Verdant. Oliver had followed her on foot, as she walked to the meeting place.  
  
He had taken up another hidden position on the rafters of the warehouse, as he watched her wait for her father, texting on her phone and smiling.  
  
Oliver shakes his head at her actions. She seems to have acclimated to her dual life, being able to afford to smile while waiting for a mass murderer. Watching her, he begins to suspect that maybe he never really knew his sister at all.  
  
"Thea," Malcolm greets in a low voice.  
  
"Dad!" Thea exclaims, rushing over to hug her father in greeting, "What’s the emergency? Is everything all right?"  
  
"Did you make sure to come here without a tail?" Malcolm says, ignoring Thea’s questions. He seems agitated, and not he’s usual calm and self-assured self.   
  
She rolls her eyes at him, confidently “Of course, I was trained by the best.”  
  
"Good," he nods, as he looks around, peering into the shadows of the warehouse. Oliver makes sure to not move a muscle or blink.  
  
"What’s wrong, dad?" Thea frowns, concerned.  
  
Malcolm takes another minute to examine their surroundings, before speaking, “You know we have seven offshore accounts, right? As of yesterday, there’s a total of five hundred three dollars left in all of them. Someone has taken most of my — our — money. I have been trying to find out who could have done it.”  
  
"What?" Thea exclaims, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Of course, I’m sure, Thea!" Malcolm explodes.  
  
"Who would do something like that?" Thea asks.  
  
"I have made a lot of enemies in the past, Thea," Malcolm answers, "It could be any one of them. It could be a family member of one of the five hundred people who died in the Glades. The total amount left is not lost on me."  
  
"What are we going to do now?"  
  
"I’m going to figure that out when I find out who did this," Malcolm growls, "In the meantime, act and behave as if nothing has happened, but keep an eye out for anything curious. And watch over yourself. All right? You’re my most valuable asset, you know that right?"  
  
"Yes," Thea responds with a smile, resting her cheek on the hand he has cupped on her jaw, "Thank you for taking care of me, dad."  
  
Oliver is sickened by the truth he hears in Thea’s voice. She really believes that her father is out to protect her, he realises.  
  
"Only doing my duty," Malcolm smiles back, "Have you heard from your brother?"  
  
"No, not really," Thea says, "I’ve been trying to call his phone but it’s been disconnected. I asked his E.A. — well, former E.A. — and she says he’s in Europe mountain climbing."  
  
"And do you believe that?"  
  
Thea shrugs and sighs, “Ollie’s done that before. He can be so impulsive that way. He wasn’t happy with my relationship with you, I’ve told you that. So, he’s sulking. He does that all time. He disappears when things don’t go his way.”  
  
Oliver controls the angry growl he can feel wanting to come out of his throat. _How dare she!_  
  
"Don’t worry, Thea, when he’s ready, I’m sure he’ll come back," Malcolm assures her, "And when he does, you’ll forgive him, all right? Family is family, after all."  
  
Thea nods.  
  
Long after Thea and Malcolm leave the warehouse, Oliver stays hidden in the rafters, assessing what he’s found out.  
  
It seems like the team is still active, and he acknowledges and accepts his relief at that knowledge. Starling City still needs to be protected and kept safe. And he’s proud that the people he trusts the most are still committed to that mission.  
  
Malcolm is still playing Father of the Year to Thea. She still must be useful to Malcolm in some way. But what? Does Malcolm know that he is alive?  
  
Thea seems to be still unaware of what has happened to him, or the situation she’s in the middle of. He lets out a sigh of relief for that. He doesn’t think he can ever wish for Thea to know how much her father has betrayed her, how much he’s using her. He wouldn’t want that kind of heartbreak for her. But, at the same time, he realises that Thea needs to be aware, so she can make a decision for herself.   
  
He knows though that he will never be ready for the great chance that she would pick Malcolm’s side over doing the right thing.  
  
Someone has drained Malcolm’s wealth. _That’s something Felicity would do_ , Oliver thinks, frowning as he feels a small smile he could never control at the thought of her on his face.  
  
Before he could make a move to leave his hiding place, the door to the warehouse opens again. He stills his muscles.  
  
"Yes, I’ve just sent you the audio of their conversation. You’re welcome … Yes, we made sure that they’ve left. There’s no one else here. We’ve checked," a figure in a black mask speaks in the emptiness of the warehouse. Oliver recognises the voice as Ted Grant’s.  
  
"Ugh. Can you tell her that we’re not amateurs?" a secondary voice scoffs.   
  
_Laurel!_ he realises with a start. Oliver clenches his jaw in irritation at the sight of her clad in Sara’s leather jacket and leather pants. And Sara’s mask. _Dammit, Laurel_ , he screams internally.  
  
"No, no, she didn’t say anything," Ted assures the person he’s talking to on the comms, "Yes, we’re going to patrol the rest of the city now. They’re at the south sector? Atom’s got the west, copy that. We’ll let you know, if there’s anything to report. Or if we need intel from you. All right. Thanks. Talk to you later."  
  
"I don’t know why you behave towards her with such deference, Wildcat," Laurel observes as they make their way out of the warehouse.  
  
"She’s cute, and she’s terrifying. And she’s hurting," Ted responds, "Which actually makes her more terrifying. I would be an idiot to go against someone like that."  
  
The door shuts loudly before he could hear Laurel’s response.  
  
 _What the fuck is going on?_ he thinks.  
  
It seems to him that there are more vigilantes in Starling City at the moment — and they’re all reporting to Felicity?   
  
As Oliver flips himself down from the rafters and on his feet, he knows he has to find out the truth of what’s going on, and he knows just where to go to find answers. Felicity Smoak and John Diggle.  
  
—————-  
  
Before he could key in the code to the doorway of the lair in the basement of Verdant, a voice call out from the shadows, “They’re not there.”  
  
Maseo steps into the dim strip of light illuminating the alley behind the club.  
  
"Where are they?" Oliver asks.  
  
"We don’t know. We have been in Starling City, monitoring what’s going for the whole day today, but we have yet to find where their new base of operations is located," Maseo responds.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Oliver insists, "I thought you were heading far away from the League of Assassins."  
  
"We were, until we received word that Ra’s Al Ghul has sent a team this way," Maseo says.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Apparently someone has been posting photographs of Malcolm Merlyn and League of Assassins members all over the internet. There have been anonymous bloggers leaking information about the locations of the League bases and stories about their operations," Maseo explains, "Today, whoever has been leaking the information made themselves known to coming from here."  
  
"Dammit, Felicity," Oliver growls quietly. This was her. This was her, all over. Her and Diggle.  
  
 _What were they up to?_  
  
"They’re laying a trap," Oliver concludes, shaking his head at the audacity of his partners.  
  
"What?" Maseo asks.  
  
"They’re laying a trap," Oliver repeats, "They are making sure that Merlyn can’t get away. They’ve drained him of his money. They’ve made sure people are aware of what he looks like. I’m sure they’ve got all entry and exits points covered. I don’t know why or how they’re involving the League, but they’re part of it."  
  
"Do you know how we can find out more about what they are planning?" Maseo asks.  
  
"It depends," Oliver responds, "On whose side your on."  
  
"We’re on the side that will weaken Ra’s Al Ghul," Talia Al Ghul announces in a clear voice from the shadows.  
  
"Do you swear?" Oliver confirms.  
  
"I give you my word, Oliver Queen," Talia says, stepping out from the shadows, "My only goal is to defeat Ra’s Al Ghul. I will stand on the side of those who seek to defeat him and his League. Once that is done, we will leave your city, and everyone under your protection, behind."  
  
He extends his hand towards her to shake. Once she clasps his hand as a sign of her commitment, he steps away and says, “Then I think we will find our answers south of the city.”


	6. Part 6 (Team Arrow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Diggle reveal their plans to everyone. Then, deal with the repercussions.

"Felicity, it’s time," Digg announces gently, "We have to let them know."  
  
Felicity nods, sadness and resolve written all over her face — reflected on his face as well.   
  
They both know that their reprieve, the state of suspension that they have put themselves in, will soon be over. They have to act. They have to tell everyone Oliver Queen’s fate. Because they can’t do this alone. They will need allies and help in order to carry out their mission.   
  
But doing so would force them to acknowledge and finally accept for themselves that Oliver Queen is dead. More so for her, than for him.  
  
And he knows it is not easy for Felicity. But he also knows her mettle. How resolute she is.  
  
"I’ll make the call and gather them," she nods, firmly.  
  
Digg gathers her in his arms for a few minutes, extending their reprieve, before letting her go to do what they have to do.  
  
————————  
  
John Diggle, for all he’s been through, doesn’t think that there’s ever been a time and space where the strangest gathering of people could ever happen.   
  
Everyone was gathered in one of the living rooms in the Queen Mansion.   
  
In one side of the room, Assistant District Attorney Laurel Lance stands beside champion boxer and trainer, Ted Grant. Close to them stands billionaire genius and C.E.O. of Palmer Technologies, Ray Palmer. On the opposite side of the room, nearest to where he and Felicity are standing, is Roy Harper and his friend, Sin. Next to them is Barry Allen of the Central City Police Department Forensics Unit, and his Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon of S.T.A.R. Labs. Near the doorway is Head of A.R.G.U.S. Amanda Waller, and her deputy, Lyla Michaels.  
  
He and Felicity stand by the opposite wall to them.  
  
"What’s going on, Felicity?" Ray Palmer asks with a confused frown.  
  
Before Felicity could respond, Amanda says, “Yes, you will explain why you’ve gathered us at the former Queen Mansion, and why you think you have the right to—”  
  
"Oliver Queen is dead. The Arrow is dead," Felicity interrupts in a strong voice, "Thirty-nine days ago, he challenged Ra’s Al Ghul to a trial by combat for the murder of The Canary, Sara Lance."  
  
In less than a second, Barry rushes to where Felicity and Digg were standing to put an arm around their shoulders in support, “I’m sorry, guys.”  
  
Laurel gasps loudly and covers her mouth as her tears spring up her eyes. “What?” she murmurs.  
  
"Oliver Queen is The Arrow?" Sin whispers to Roy. Roy nods his assent before stepping closer to where Felicity and Diggle stand.   
  
"Did you know this?" Amanda asks Lyla, who nods grimly, "Soon, we will speak about your propensity for keeping information from me, Michaels."  
  
Lyla shrugs in response.  
  
"And you know this, how?" Ray asks, taking a step closer to Felicity.  
  
"Roy, Felicity and I have been helping him with the crusade to keep Starling City safe for over two years now," Digg responds for Felicity. Ray’s knowing and accepting nod is his answer.  
  
"Why did he go to trial for Sara’s death?" Laurel exclaims, "He didn’t kill her!"  
  
Felicity turns to Laurel, and says, “No, he didn’t. Malcolm Merlyn did via his daughter, whom he drugged and then commanded to murder Sara so that Oliver would be forced to confront Ra’s Al Ghul in order to protect Sara’s killer.”  
  
"Why would Merlyn do that?" Laurel asks, "Sara was of no consequence to him."  
  
"It was not about Sara," Digg responds, "It was about Malcolm Merlyn. The League of Assassins were after him for what he did to the Glades two years ago. He needed a clean slate. He needed someone to go to battle on his behalf, so his blood debt will be cleared. He knew there was no way he could defeat Ra’s Al Ghul. He knew that Oliver couldn’t defeat Ra’s Al Ghul. But when Oliver was forced to challenge the head of the League of Assassins, he cleared Malcolm’s debt."  
  
"So, Merlyn arranged to have Thea kill Sara so Oliver would be forced to protect her," Amanda concludes, "Clever."  
  
"Glad you think so," Felicity says without humour. Then she straightens her spine, and adds, "We’ve called you here because we need your help."  
  
"For what?" Ted asks, his arm around a crying Laurel.  
  
"To keep the city safe," Digg responds.  
  
"And to bring down Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins," Felicity adds, "At some point in the next week, all of them will be Starling City, we have to make sure we’re ready do them."  
  
Roy, with his arms folded in front of him, asks, “Are you in?”  
  
"Do we have a choice?" Amanda asks.  
  
"No," Felicity says with a grim smile, "No, you don’t."  
  
——————  
  
They present everything they know about Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul and his League of Assassins, and their plans to the group after giving everyone enough time to recover from the news of Oliver’s death. No one objects to helping the team carry out their plans, although Amanda Waller and Ray Palmer had some ideas that enhanced their plans.  
  
By the end of the half-day meeting, everyone knew their roles to carry out their common mission and goals.  
  
The goal is to stop Malcolm Merlyn and cripple Ra’s Al Ghul’s operations. Bonus points, if at the end of their strike, Ra’s Al Ghul is also behind bars. Or neutralised.  
  
The plan requires information, precision and careful execution.  
  
Felicity, with the help of Cisco, will populate the internet with photos of Malcolm Merlyn and known members of the League of Assassin. They will also leak League of Assassin operations and locations through the internet. This would call the League’s attention, and it will make it more difficult for them to disappear into the shadows once more.   
  
In the meantime, Amanda Waller will send agents to Nanda Parbat and other known bases of operations with the coordinates Felicity has given them, and gain access to all entry and exit points — land, sea, air — into Starling City. They will stay in prime position until the team in Starling makes their move.  
  
When the time is right, Felicity will do two things: One, siphon all of Merlyn’s accounts, letting him know that someone is out to get him, and forcing him to make a desperate move to leave the city. Two, release a Starling City I.P. address, a dummy one, on the internet, pointing the location of the source of the leaked information about the League of Assassins to their hackers, prompting Ra’s Al Ghul to send a phalanx of his soldiers to Starling City.  
  
Once that is done, the A.R.G.U.S. agents stationed in Nanda Parbat and the League bases will attack. Then everyone, all the vigilantes with the help of the Starling City Police Department and the Suicide Squad, will neutralise the Malcolm Merlyn and the League of Assassins members in the city while keeping the city’s residents safe.  
  
While they are laying the trap, Digg and Roy will continue to protect the city with the help of Barry, Ted, Laurel and Ray with Felicity, Cisco and Caitlin manning the comms. They will also keep an eye out for League of Assassin activities, and neutralise any traps they may be installing until they are ready to attack.  
  
Roy and Sin will keep an eye on Thea to make sure she remains unaware of what is happening. Sin would re-connect with Thea, ask to get a bartending job at Verdant, to give Sin ample excuse to be around Thea to monitor her movement. Once the trap is sprung, Sin will make sure to lead Thea to the basement of Verdant to keep her away from the fighting.   
  
They give themselves seven days to start bringing down Malcolm Merlyn and trapping the League of Assassins.  
  
——————-  
  
"Is this where you buried his body?" Laurel asks from behind Felicity as the blonde stands in front of Oliver Queen’s tombstone.  
  
Felicity headed to this place as soon as the draining meeting with everyone was over.   
  
"There was no body to bury," Felicity responds.  
  
Laurel nods, even though Felicity couldn’t see her. The other woman had not taken her eyes away from the tombstone.  
  
"That’s the hardest part," Laurel murmurs.  
  
"Sometimes," Felicity agrees.  
  
"And other times?"  
  
"Other times, I would trade everything for one last look," Felicity answers quietly.  
  
They stand in front of Oliver Queen’s grave, the closest thing they have to a grave, in silence, Laurel remaining behind Felicity in commiseration.  
  
"Why didn’t you tell me sooner?" Laurel finally asks, "I know I no longer hold the place you have in his heart, in his life, but I still had the right to know."  
  
"It was to protect Thea, and to make sure we had enough time to put our plans in place," Felicity turns to face Laurel, "We didn’t know what you would do to her and to her father, when you found out what they did to Sara. We had to buy ourselves some time to put everything in place. We also thought it was more merciful to let you know when our plans were more solid. To give you an outlet for your anger and your pain."  
  
Laurel exhales a bitter sigh, “Forgive me, if I don’t thank you for your mercy.”  
  
"I don’t expect your thanks, Laurel," Felicity nods before turning to face Oliver’s tombstone again.  
  
"After all this is done, what are you going to do?" Laurel asks.   
  
She knows the kind of anger and despair the other woman is currently facing. She’s experienced it more than enough times in her own lifetime. She knows how unbearable it is. And she can’t help herself, a part of her feels for this woman. This woman who looks like the only thing holding her together is the mission, the goal to bring down everyone she blames for Oliver Queen’s death. This woman who is standing in front of his grave, keeping still with the exception of the fingers of right hand, rubbing each other’s tips. This woman that Laurel knew Oliver loved more than he ever loved her. This woman who loved, who still loves, Oliver more than she herself had ever loved him.  
  
Laurel wants Felicity to find it in herself to move forward after their task, their mission is done.  
  
"I don’t know," is Felicity’s whispered answer.  
  
Felicity gives a reverent nod to Oliver’s tombstone, before turning once again towards Laurel, “You should call your father soon, and let him know what will happen in Starling City in seven days.”  
  
———————-  
  
"So, she used me," Ray says as if he were asking a question as soon Felicity leaves the room after everyone else did after their meeting, leaving Digg and Roy behind.  
  
"Hey!" Roy cries, "She didn’t—"  
  
"She also helped you," Digg interrupts, a hand on Roy’s shoulder, "You wanted the means and the ability to help Starling City, right? She gave you that."  
  
Ray nods and expels an accepting sigh, “She did. Did she tell you why I want to help protect Starling City?”  
  
"All she said was that you witnessed something horrible when the Mirakuru soldiers attacked the city," Diggle responds, "She refused to say anything more than that."  
  
"At least there’s that," Ray murmurs.  
  
"Did you ever believe that there could be anything more between the two of you than what you are?" Digg asks.   
  
"No, I had hoped though," Ray admits, "She kept things professional but before this… before this whole Atom thing started, we shared something—"  
  
Roy growls and makes a move towards the taller man, but the hand Digg kept on his shoulder stopped him.  
  
"No! Nothing like that!" Ray raises his hands to calm Roy down, "We kissed! Once! Then I asked her for help with protecting Starling City. By the time she said ‘Yes’, she was a different person. Now, I know why. She came to me because Oliver Queen had died, and she needed my resources to carry out her mission."  
  
"She helped you, too," Roy insists, "Yes, she needed your money, but she helped you become a hero, too! You got something out of it, too!"  
  
"And having my base at the Queen Mansion, did it help me, too?" Ray asks sardonically.  
  
"No, that was for us," Digg responds quietly, "For the ones Oliver left behind to have a place to go to to honour him."  
  
At Ray’s confused and curious frown, Roy adds, “The League didn’t return his body. We needed a place to mourn.”  
  
"I get it," Ray nods in understanding. He understands that need. He’s spent so much time in Anna’s grave that he knows why one would need a place to be able to speak and honour the dead.  
  
"I’m sorry, Ray," Felicity says from the doorway.  
  
Ray turns to where she is standing and steps towards her, “I get it.”  
  
"Still, I owe you an apology," she insists, moving into the room, "And I owe you — in general."  
  
"No, Mr. Diggle and Mr. Harper are right, you did help me become wanted I wanted to be for the city," Ray responds gently. Then he flashes her a smile, "And goodness knows I can afford the mortgage for this place."  
  
Felicity musters all that she can from within herself to answer with a sincere smile. It was the least she owed him — for his generosity, for his kindness, for his acceptance, for his forgiveness.  
  
"Thank you, Ray," she says.  
  
He wraps an arm around her and pulls her close to him. She stiffens initially, and she forces herself to relax in his hold. She owes him this as well.  
  
Ray sighs and pulls away from her, and stands to be able to face everyone of Oliver Queen’s teammates.  
  
"Please tell me that after all this is done, after we’ve kicked everyone assess, you all will recover from this," he says.  
  
First, he meets Roy’s eyes, who nods. Diggle also nods.  
  
"Of course," Felicity responds with a smile. A pale facsimile of the kind of smiles she used to be able to give.   
  
Ray wonders as he leaves the room to head back to his offices, what it would take for her to be able to smile genuinely again.  
  
 _Nothing you can do and buy and accomplish, that’s for sure_ , he concludes to himself.


	7. Part 7 (Oliver Queen)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reveal and the reunion.

Oliver leaps across the rooftop of a building, rolling as he lands on the next building to propel his body forward to sprint to the edge and leap to the next. On and on, he went, trusting that Maseo and Talia were able to keep up with him.  
  
Now that he had resolved to let his partners, his team, know of his presence, he couldn’t wait to see them. Or more aptly, to let them see him.   
  
He spots two figures in an alley in the middle of what looked to be a circle of Triad members. One in green leather, and the other in red. Digg and Roy. The Arrow and Arsenal.  
  
They were working together in hand-to-hand combat with their attackers like a well-oiled machine. Oliver allows a second to feel pride at they way they fought. It seems like Digg had kept up with Roy’s training — for which he was glad.  
  
As he drops himself on the alley, he lands on top of one of their attackers, knocking the man unconscious. He stands up to kick another on the chest, and spins to hit another with his elbow.   
  
"What the—?" Roy exclaims, surprised at his assistance, stopping for a moment after the last man he was fighting drops to his feet.  
  
"Eyes on the enemies, Arsenal," Digg warns, his voice robotic with the scrambler, as he delivers a punch to his opponent and kicks the one behind him, "Worry about the rest, later."  
  
Before he could say anything more, another Triad member pulls out the gun and points it at Digg. With speed that his muscles protested, Oliver moves to disarm the gun-wielding thug and render him unconscious with a well-aimed roundhouse kick to the head.  
  
For the next few minutes, the three of them work together to drop Triad members, who kept on coming out of the building on the alley, wielding different weapons, to the ground.   
  
Oliver revels at being able to work with his friends, his teammates, his partners, this way again.   
  
—————  
  
Felicity focuses on the screens in front of her as Caitlin and Cisco, who have come back from Central City to help, operate the comms for the various vigilante teams spread outside the city.  
  
Ray was in the west side of Starling. Laurel and Ted were at the Glades in the East. Barry was running around in the docks and in the North side. Digg and Roy in the South.   
  
She knows that Digg and Roy have just found one of the Triad dens and that they were working towards apprehending the gang members. But she needed to focus on her task.  
  
Malcolm Merlyn, apparently called in favour and had a hacker try to locate where his money went. She was sure that he would never be able to trace it back to her, but their plans need for the hacker to not get answers until they  were ready. They needed to keep Malcolm Merlyn in town until the League of Assassins got here, so they could deal with him themselves. In order to do keep Merlyn here, he needed to think that he could regain his money. He, and the hacker he hired, couldn’t know that all of the Merlyn money was already in the ban accounts of the families of the five hundred three who perished because of the earthquake device, and different programmes to rehabilitate and rebuild the Glades.  
  
So, Felicity had to lead his hacker astray online. Drop dummy clues that would make it look like all the money went to one account, that he could hack in order to restore the Merlyn money. The hacker Merlyn hired has skill though,  which meant she needed to focus on leading them astray and be ten steps ahead of the guy (or girl).  
  
Once that’s done, when she leaves enough false digital forensics for this hacker, then she can go back to helping the vigilantes with their night’s work.  
  
 _Twenty more minutes_ , she thinks.  
  
"Felicity," Caitlin says, calling her attention, "There’s something weird going on at the south side."  
  
"What?" Felicity asks distractedly.  
  
"A third person has joined the fray," Caitlin answers.  
  
"Friend or foe?"  
  
"Friend, it seems," Caitlin responds, "Digg has told Roy to worry about the other guy later."  
  
"Good, I need about nineteen more minutes," Felicity says.  
  
Caitlin goes back to monitoring the comms as Felicity refocuses on her task.  
  
————-  
  
It takes Digg, Roy and Oliver roughly twenty minutes to incapacitate all the Triad members in the alley. Silently, they tie the unconscious members in a line for the SCPD to collect.   
  
"Who are you?" Digg asked, voice still distorted.  
  
Instead of saying anything, Oliver removes his balaclava to reveal his face.   
  
"What the fuck!" Roy exclaims, "You— you— you—"  
  
"We thought you were dead," Digg says in shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes. _Oliver! Alive! How?_  
  
"He was," a voice from the shadows respond.   
  
Out comes a tall, lithe dark-haired woman. Her face covered by a thin scarf. Behind her emerges a lean man. A mask on his face as well.  
  
"But my associate revived him," she finishes.  
  
"How?"  
  
"I’d like to explain when we are all together," Oliver finally speaks, "As I’m sure you have a lot to update me on."  
  
Before he could say anything more, Roy rushes towards him to wrap his arms around Oliver’s shoulders. Talia and Maseo take a fighting position, but Oliver relaxes and hugs Roy back.

He reaches out his right hand towards Digg, offering a handshake in greeting. Digg grasps his hand tightly in return.  
  
He looks at Digg whose face was softening, “Take me to her, please.”  
  
—————  
  
"Felicity…" Caitlin murmurs, turning to Felicity with a shocked look on her face.  
  
"What? I just need a minute. This hacker person Merlyn hired is better than I thought they were," Felicity responds irritably.  
  
"Felicity…"  
  
"What?!?!"  
  
"Digg … and Roy … are on their way back," Caitlin says, shock still in her voice and face.  
  
"Good to know. I—"  
  
"I think, with Oliver Queen," Caitlin adds.  
  
"Everyone, come back to the base now! I repeat, everyone come back to the base now!" Felicity hears Cisco call into the comms as her vision, and then the rest of her senses, fade.  
  
—————  
  
It surprises him that the new base of operations was the former Queen Mansion. He wonders how the team managed to do that.  
  
Digg and Roy lead him, and Talia and Maseo, to one of the main living rooms. His stomach is swooping in trepidation. _How would she react to him?_  
  
He knows that Digg and Roy are happy to see him, relieved to see him alive — and that was such a comfort. But how would Felicity respond? He swears to himself he would take any kind of reaction aside from indifference. He would take her slapping, kicking, punching him in anger. He would take anything but nonchalance. Indifference would break his heart.  
  
In the living room, he’s surprised to see other people gathered. He runs his eyes around the room. Lyla, Laurel, Ted, Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and … Ray Palmer… All looking at him in shock and awe.  
  
 _What the fuck was Ray Palmer doing here? And a red and blue costume?_ Oliver thinks.  
  
"Where’s Felicity?" he asks before anyone else can say anything.  
  
"She’s uh —" Caitlin starts.  
  
"I’m here," Felicity announces from the doorway to his right.  
  
Oliver swallows to keep the sob from leaving his throat as he stares at her, unconsciously taking a step closer to her.  
  
She’s as beautiful as he remembers her. As beautiful as she was in his dreams, and his nightmares. Her beauty never changed for him, he realises. It didn’t matter if he was dreaming of her or having a nightmare about her, she was always beautiful to him.  
  
He realises now just how much he’s longed for her, how much he’s stopped himself from thinking about her, focusing on getting home instead. Getting back to her.  
  
For what seems like forever, he takes exhales and breathes, hoping to catch a hint of her scent in the air as he runs his eyes over her.  
  
His knees buckle as the last forty-six days catch up with him.  
  
"Oliver!" Felicity runs towards him as he drops to the floor.  
  
She catches him before he reaches the floor, and sinks with him in her arms.  
  
Her mind is blank. No, not blank. She observes, in a disembodied way, his appearance. The loss of weight, the longer hair, the scraggly beard, his blue eyes. The exhaustion in his eyes. But the happiness, the relief in them as well.  
  
It’s the relief, the perfect match to hers, that brings her back to herself.  
  
She buries her face in his shoulder and sobs.  
  
————-  
  
Laurel considers herself somewhat of an expert in having people she loves come back from the dead. It has happened to her twice in her lifetime before this third time.   
  
In the back of her mind, she asks the universe when the one she really loves and who loves her back fully would return from his death. She shoves the matter out of her mind, and goes back to the situation at hand.  
  
Oliver Queen is back from the dead for a second time. She recalls how he looked at her when he first returned — with such longing and guilt. It was that longing that she clung to in the year after his first return. That he longed for her in his time away, in the time that he died, kept her tied to him. Kept her hoping that it meant that he loved her. And that because he loved her, after all, they could have the future she had wanted for the two of them before The Queen’s Gambit, betrayals and deaths.  
  
She’s long since accepted that she was wrong about that. She should have focused her attention on the future she could have had with Tommy, instead of constantly looking back at the possibility, at pointless, fake proof that Ollie was the one for her. After Sara came back from the dead, and she and Ollie promptly got into a relationship again without thought to how she, Laurel, would take it, she knew that was the final nail in the coffin of her ‘What Could Be’ with Ollie.   
  
At least, she thought that was the final nail. She was wrong.  
  
This is.  
  
The way Oliver looked at Felicity like she was all his fantasies and dreams, his salvation, his home and his Christmas mornings all rolled into one beautiful package.   
  
The way he looked at her with only longing and love. No guilt. Like he had nothing to be ashamed of with her.  
  
The look in his eyes as he gazed at her with affection, adoration, lust and love. Openly. So, openly.  
  
For a final time, Laurel realises that whatever love she may still share with Oliver, it’s not the kind that spells forever and eternal.   
  
_This time_ , she believes, _that lesson will stick._  
  
"I think, we should give them some privacy," Ted whispers to her, squeezing her shoulder before he moves to head out of the living room.  
  
Laurel nods, and follows after him.  
  
—————  
  
Ray looks at the pair crying in each others’ arms on the floor with unseeing eyes.  
  
His mind, always running at one hundred miles per hour, busy with images and ideas and thoughts and hopes.  
  
Images his mind without his knowledge about how Felicity and Oliver looked, behaved and gazed at each other during the only time he was in the room with them. How they looked like they matched, their body language speaking of trust and lust and attraction. A real partnership.  
  
He almost hit his own head for being such dumbass to not have realised that at that time. It wasn’t something that was unfamiliar to him.  
  
He had that with Anna. He had everything with Anna.  
  
He was an idiot to think he could have the same thing with Felicity. It was impossible. Because he’s already had that with Anna, and Felicity had — has — that with Oliver. And neither of them would settle for less than the real thing.  
  
It was the thought of Anna, and everything he shared with her, everything she was, and the hope that sprung in his heart at the sight of Oliver Queen coming back to life, that maybe, just maybe, Anna can be as miraculous, too, that jogged his mind off his thoughts.  
  
It was the knowledge that he could never have what Felicity was getting now, with Oliver, that had him stepping out of the living room to get some fresh air for himself.  
  
—————-  
  
Caitlin, with tears dripping down her face, approaches Barry and Cisco, and tells them, “We should go leave them to themselves for a bit. We need to monitor the city.”  
  
Barry and Cisco, knowing the kind of emotions this reunion was bringing up for Caitlin, the kind of hope this must be encouraging in her about Ronnie, nod and head back to the basement, where they could man the comms.  
  
——————  
  
Lyla squeezes Johnnie’s arm in comfort and whispers, “I’ll brief them on the current information,” motioning to Talia and Maseo, before swiftly pecking his lips and stepping away.  
  
She addresses Talia and Maseo, “Would you like to see what we have on the League to date?”  
  
Talia and Maseo nod wordlessly, and follow Lyla to the kitchen.  
  
And then, there were four.  
  
Digg and Roy stand by the doorway as if guarding the two people in the room.   
  
_More like, they both couldn’t let Oliver out of their sights after just getting him back_ , Digg muses.   
  
He couldn’t believe he got one of his brothers back! He knew that Andy Diggle was going to be a loss that he will never recover from. Losing Andy was like losing an organ or a limb. Eventually one learns to survive without it, but the loss will always be there. He didn’t realise, until Oliver revealed his face to him and the fact that he was alive, how much he didn’t want to live without two missing limbs. One loss was more than enough.  
  
Now that Oliver was back, that they all finally got the ‘ _Later_ ' they had wished for on that day at the foundry, Digg intended to keep the promise he made to himself, to Oliver. He would make sure that Oliver gets to live and find happiness.  
  
Felicity has stopped sobbing into Oliver’s shoulder, but he hasn’t ceased running his hands in the back of her head, through strands of her hair. He has his face buried in her nape as she keeps hers on his shoulder.  
  
"I love you," she whispers, "I meant to say that when you came back. But you didn’t. You died. Nyssa came to tell us. And I never got to tell you—"  
  
"I love you," he whispers back, dropping a kiss on her shoulder, "I’m here now."  
  
She pulls away from him and runs her hands on the sides of his face, his beard tickling her palms and fingers.   
  
He puts a hand on the top of her back to pull her closer, grasping her nape with his right hand as he kisses her.  
  
Kneeling on the floor, face-to-face, they kiss. When he tries to pull away after the first peck, she clutches his jaw to pull him closer. Impossibly closer. As if she wanted to disappear into his body. He groans at the thought of disappearing into hers, of merging their bodies in the only way he knows how.  
  
His groan opens his mouth to hers, so she darts her tongue in it to tangle with his. She moans, and he takes the opening to stab his tongue in her mouth in retaliation.   
  
The kiss grows more passionate after that. She sucks on his tongue as one of his hands grabs on to her bottom to pull her hips closer to his. He lures her tongue into his mouth with tiny nips and sips, and then reciprocates the pleasure she caused him with sucking on hers. They nibble on each others’ lips, bottom and upper, from corner to corner, when their need for oxygen becomes unbearable. They breathe each other in, taking in the scents that they have dreamed about when they were apart.  
  
They lose track of time. Lost in each other.   
  
Eventually, their senses that have longed for more samples of each other, more memories to dream about, remind them of their situation. Reluctantly, they stop.  
  
After a few final pecks and caresses, they raise their eyes and look around them.  
  
Roy has his eyes behind his eyes. Beside him, Diggle is looking down on the floor.  
  
"Are you done now?" Digg asks, still keeping his eyes averted. _It didn’t seem like Oliver would his help in finding happiness_ , he thinks, shaking his head.  
  
"Please tell me you’re done now," Roy begs, "Are they done now, Digg?"  
  
Digg shrugs in response, “You’re not going to make me look. Seeing that for a second was traumatic enough.”  
  
Oliver and Felicity laugh as they bring each other to their feet. Arms around each other, they approach their friends, their teammates, their partners, their family.  
  
"We’re done," Felicity says.  
  
"Well, for now," Oliver adds.  
  
"You sure?" Roy confirms, not removing the hand over his eyes.  
  
"They wouldn’t be talking, if they were not done, Roy," Digg says, rolling his eyes and finally looking up to take a good look at his friends. He smiles at them.

Felicity reaches out and squeezes Digg’s arm in happiness. Digg squeezes her hand in response, equally happy.  
  
"You have a lot of explaining to do," Digg nods at Oliver.  
  
"Yeah, I do," Oliver nods back, "So, do you guys. Why is Malcolm Merlyn bankrupt? And why is the League of Assassins on the way to Starling City?"  
  
Both Digg and Roy, turn their heads to look at Felicity, who has a sheepish look on her face.  
  
"About that," she starts, "I’ll explain after you explain what happened to you. Also, we should take a seat."  
  
"Deal," Oliver says, unable to help himself from nuzzling his face in the top of her head and breathing her in.  
  
 _He was finally home._


	8. Part 8 (Team Arrow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea Queen demands the truth.

As Felicity, Digg and Roy explain to Oliver the plans that they have carried out to avenge his death, Oliver chuckles to himself.

"What?" Roy asks with a frown on his face.  
  
"Nothing," Oliver responds, once again nuzzling his face on Felicity hair.  
  
"No, really, what?" Felicity asks, pulling away from him to give him a stern look.  
  
"In the forest, and on the drive here, even when I got here, I entertained the thought that you three would choose to lead lives away from all of this," Oliver admits, "I was an idiot for thinking that. I should have known that you would always choose to do the right thing. To continue our mission."  
  
"To avenge you," Digg adds.  
  
Oliver nods thankfully in response.   
  
Felicity looks out of the window, surprised to see that the sun was out.  
  
"I’ll need to check on the basement to get a report on the nights watch," Felicity announces, getting up from the couch she had shared with Oliver for the last few hours.  
  
Oliver stands with her, and doesn’t let go of his hold on her, “To the basement then.”  
  
Felicity smiles at him as she takes his hand to show him the command centre they built underneath the mansion.  
  
When they get to the basement, they’re not surprised to see that Caitlin, Cisco and Barry were slumped over the desks, sleeping.  
  
"Hey, guys," Felicity calls out, gently nudging each of them on the shoulder.  
  
"Oh, hey," Barry greets her with a sleepy smile. His eyes widen when he sees Oliver next to Felicty, then he whoops. Loudly.  
  
"I’m glad I didn’t dream you being alive!" Barry says.  
  
"Dude, you dream of Oliver Queen?" Cisco grumbles, having been woken up by Barry’s loud whoop.  
  
"Who wouldn’t?" Caitlin murmurs absent-mindedly, then realises what she said, and goes, "I did a Felicity again, didn’t I?"  
  
"Hey!" Felicity protests as Oliver chuckles beside her.  
  
"I’m just going to listen to recordings off the police scanner and reports from the team from last night," Felicity says, "You guys get some rest, please. There’s rooms here for everyone."  
  
"There’s no new development, it was actually kind of silent last night," Cisco responds, yawning and stretching.  
  
"That means the League of Assassins are either very near or are in the city already," Oliver says.  
  
"Yeah, I think so, too," Felicity nods.  
  
"They only attack at night, right?" Ray says from the entrance of the basement.  
  
"Generally," Oliver answers, nodding to Ray.  
  
"Then you should get some rest yourselves," Ray suggests, "Lyla has called for back-up from A.R.G.U.S. to watch over this place. Some of us have also had a night’s rest, so we can take over monitoring the comms for any chatter."  
  
"You sure?" Barry asks.  
  
"Yes, we will all need our strength, if the League is attacking tonight," Ray nods.  
  
Laurel and Ted enter the basement as well.  
  
"I’ll keep an eye on the perimeter," Ted says.  
  
"I’ll watch over the comms," Laurel says, stepping closer to Oliver to give him a brief hug, "Glad you’re back."  
  
"Thanks," Oliver says, an arm around Laurel shoulder, his other hand has not let go of Felicity’s.  
  
"So, you guys go to sleep," Ray says, "We’ve got this for now."  
  
Oliver and Felicity look to each other and nod, then in unison say, “Thanks.”  
  
——————-  
  
Oliver wakes up with a gasp, nightmares lingering in his brain. They have gotten better, the more tea he chewed on, the more distance he had from the Lazarus Pit, and the more time he had from waking up from the dead.  
  
"Hey," Felicity calls out to him in a soft voice, fingers running over his chest. She’s lying partway-way between the back of the couch that they slept on, and his chest, her face turned towards his body.  
  
"Hey," he responds, voice rough, as lifts a hand to run his thumb on her nearest ear. She shivers.  
  
He turns his head to look at the window for a second to gauge the time. Around eleven a.m. They’ve slept for five hours.   
  
"I didn’t dream you then," she says sleepily, nuzzling his chest.  
  
"Nor I, you," he answers, pulling her closer, "Were your dreams of me bad?"  
  
"No, they were the only good things for me after…" Felicity admits, "It was just … difficult… waking up."  
  
He nods and nuzzles his head in her hair, a habit he seems to be forming.  
  
"Were yours of me bad?" she asks.  
  
"Not when they start. After I fall asleep I start by dreaming good things," Oliver says, "Then they turn into nightmares. They weren’t so bad this time. Maybe the effects of the Lazarus Pit are becoming weaker."  
  
"Hmmm," she murmurs, "Or maybe you should just make sure to sleep with me all the time."  
  
He chuckles and moves to position her beneath his body, “Deal.”  
  
With no other warning that that, he lays another passionate kiss on her lips. She responds eagerly.  
  
"Dammit, not again!" Roy’s voice interrupts them.  
  
Oliver stops kissing Felicity slowly, not interested in behaving as if being caught kissing her was something to be embarrassed about. _In fact_ , he thinks to himself, _it’s something to be proud of._  
  
Felicity pushes his shoulders to encourage him to get off off her, half-heartedly.  
  
"Guys, there’s news," Roy says with an exasperated sigh.  
  
Oliver and Felicity are instantly on high alert. Oliver gets up from the couch, and extends a hand to Felicity to help her stand up.  
  
"What’s up?" Felicity asks, looking for the rubber band she usually ties her hair in a ponytail with. Oliver takes the item from his wrist, and gathers her hair on the top of her head and wraps the rubber band on her hair.   
  
Roy shakes his head at them. It amazed him that they behaved as if they have been doing this, as if they have been together romantically, intimately, for decades, when they have only gotten together the night before.  
  
"You two got to get ready. Take a shower — not together! We don’t have time," Roy says, and mumbles under his breath, "How will I scrub the image of the two of in a shower together off my brain?"  
  
"Roy!" Oliver growls, "Continue."  
  
"Oh, right," Roy comes to himself, "Sin just rang. She spent the night at Thea’s. Apparently, Malcolm Merlyn has convinced Thea to run away from Starling City. So, Sin put a sedative in Thea’s tea to knock her out. Sin is on her way here with Thea."  
  
—————  
  
When Thea comes to, she immediately leaps off the couch and gets into a fighting stance, surprising the people in the room with her.  
  
She looks around, seeing Roy, Laurel, Sin, Mr. Diggle and — _was that Ray Palmer? What’s he doing here?_  
  
"What’s going on?" she asks in a confused voice. She observes her surroundings, "Why am I in our old house?"  
  
"Thea, I had to take you here," Sin explains, "We can’t have you leaving town with Malcolm Merlyn."  
  
"What? Why? Why wouldn’t I leave town with my father?" Thea protests.  
  
"Because Malcolm Merlyn is using you," Laurel says, glaring at Thea. _Why was Laurel glaring at her?_  
  
"Thea, you can’t go with your father," Roy adds in, "He’s evil, and he will use you."  
  
"I don’t believe you!" Thea exclaims, "He has never lied to me, unlike you, and Ollie. And everyone around the two of you! He’s the only one I trust! Because he promised never to lie to me! He only told me the truth!"  
  
"Did he tell you the truth about Sara?" Laurel shouts, "Did he? Do you know what’s he’s made you do? Did you do it willingly for your father?"  
  
"What…? Laurel," Thea frowns, confused.  
  
"Do you want to know?" Oliver as he enters the doorway to the living room.  
  
"Ollie!" Thea rushes towards him to throw her arms around him, "You’re back!"  
  
When he doesn’t return her hug, she pulls away and asks, “What’s wrong?”  
  
"Do you want to know what Malcolm Merlyn has done to you?" Oliver asks again, "Or do you want to remain clueless about what’s going on? Live in your bubble where your life is perfect. Where you can fight alongside your father, and live in a fancy apartment, and forget that your father, whom you’ve put your trust in, has killed at least five hundred and three people. Do you want to keep lying to yourself or do you want the truth? What do you want?"  
  
"What are you talking about, Ollie?" Thea cries. _She couldn’t believe him! He disappears for months on end, and now he shows up demanding things from her!_  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"I want to know where you’ve been!" she demands, trying to turn the tables on him, "I want the truth about where you disappeared to and why!"  
  
"You have to deserve the truth, Thea," Oliver says sadly, "And unless you don’t want to truth about Malcolm Merlyn and what you have allowed yourself to become, then I’m afraid you don’t get the truth about me."  
  
He walks away with a command to Roy, “Make sure she stays safe. Away from the what will happen tonight.”  
  
Roy nods to Oliver.  
  
One by one the people in the living room leave, until it’s only her and Roy.  
  
"What’s going on, Roy?" Thea asks brokenly.  
  
"You have a choice, Thea," Roy says in a serious voice. The most serious she’s ever seen him. "You can either trust your brother or trust your father. You can’t do both. Because their goals are directly opposite each others. Your father seeks to harm this city, to save only himself, to use you. And Oliver, well, he has recently proven to everyone who knows him that he would stop at nothing to protect this city, and to protect you."  
  
"What do you mean? Stop talking in riddles!"  
  
"And stop deliberating putting blinders on, Thea!" Roy shouts, "You know. You know about what your father is capable of. You know who your brother is. You know what love is! You know who loves you. And yet you keep clinging to the one person who doesn’t!"  
  
"Because he can’t hurt me!" Thea screams, "He made sure that I can endure pain! He trained me to endure pain. So no one else can hurt me. And I don’t love him! So he could never hurt me!"  
  
"How naive," Roy says snidely, "You think you can learn how not to feel pain? You think you can’t get your heart broken because your father taught you to be tough? Ha! What a stupid thought!"  
  
"How dare you—"  
  
"If something happened to your brother," Roy interrupts her rant, "Say, your brother dies because he was protecting you, would your father’s training help?"  
  
"What? No! Why are you talking about Ollie dying?" Thea cries, covering her ears with her hands.  
  
"You can’t even bear the thought," Roy shakes his head in sympathy, "How exactly has your father’s training helped you then?"  
  
"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop," Thea shouts, her tears falling down her face.  
  
All of a sudden, everything she’s held back from herself start running through her brain. Malcolm Merlyn killed five hundred and three people by building an earthquake device that leveled the Glades. One of the five hundred three people was Tommy, whom she loved and has always felt a connection with, first thinking it was some kind of attraction, but realising that it was because he was her half-brother. The pain she felt at witnessing her mother’s violent death, and seeing Ollie cry helplessly. The betrayal that she felt when she realised that her mom and Ollie were keeping the truth about her father from her, and when she learned that Roy had been keeping his vigilante work from her. The need to numb herself … Burning her hands with boiling water. Her father burning her hands with boiling water. Her father hitting her in the face, kicking her as she struggled to get up. More boiling water. More pain … Bamboo sticks hitting her on the back. Knives embedded on her skin. All inflicted by Malcolm Merlyn, her father, because she asked to not feel pain…  
  
Then a strange memory. Three arrows in a masked woman’s chest. Sara Lance’s voice, asking Malcolm Merlyn what he was doing there. Then the surprise in the blonde’s face when Malcolm stepped back to reveal — her! With arrows nocked on her bow… Three arrows on Sara Lance’s chest as she falls down the roof…  
  
"Roy," she gasps helplessly, kneeling on the floor, "What’s happening?"  
  
"The beginning of truth, I think," he says grimly before her vision blackens.  
  
—————-  
  
When Thea wakes up, she’s in the bedroom she grew up in. For the first few minutes of waking, she lives in a world where she was happy. Ollie was about to knock on her door to call her to breakfast, where Mom and Dad were waiting.  
  
Then she remembers the final vision in her mind before she blacked out. Sara Lance with three arrows in her chest, falling off the roof.   
  
Thea gasps and springs her upper body up from the bed.  
  
"Hey," a lean, Japanese-looking man with long hair greets her. He’s sitting on a chair near her bed.  
  
"Who are you?"   
  
"I’m Maseo," he says, "I’m a friend of your brother’s."  
  
"Are you here to keep me prisoner in my own room?" she asks.  
  
"No, I’m here to help you remember what your mind has taken away from you," he says.  
  
"How?"  
  
He gets up from the chair and goes to her dresser where a big candle rests. He lights the candle, puts it on the floor, and sits facing it.  
  
He turns to her and motions for her to sit across him. She follows.  
  
"Close your eyes and concentrate on the sound of my voice," he says calmly.  
  
Thea begins to learn the truth.  
  
———————  
  
Oliver pushes himself to the limit on the salmon ladder, trying to keep his mind off Thea. He checked in on her after she collapsed. Maseo had offered to make her remember her forgotten memories himself as he felt Oliver would be too emotionally-attached to do it for Thea. Oliver gratefully accepted Maseo’s offer.  
  
He had been looking for Felicity, whom he knew was at the basement monitoring internet traffic and police scanner for reports on League of Assassins sightings, when he spotted the salmon ladder.  
  
He was focused on his rhythm, pull-up-swing-pull-up-swing, when Ray’s voice interrupts his concentration.  
  
"You know, for a guy who was dead a week ago, he’s not doing too bad."  
  
"I know, right?" Barry responds, "I can do it faster."  
  
Oliver drops himself from the top rung of the ladder, and faces the two men, “You two know how to use this?”  
  
"Why else would it be in my basement?" Ray responds smugly, as Barry says, "I used the one in your Arrow Cave."  
  
Oliver rolls his eyes at Barry, and addresses Ray, “So, you use the salmon ladder.”  
  
"Like I said, I try to get a few rounds in as we prepare for my nightly patrol. So, I asked Felicity to install one here."  
  
"Right," Oliver nods, and heads for the desk where Felicity was studiously ignoring the conversation. He picks up the towel on her desk and wipes his face, then adds smugly, "Felicity put my salmon ladder directly in front of desk in our lair. Says she enjoys watching me do it. Isn’t that right, Felicity?"  
  
"Shut up, Oliver," she responds, hitting his chest with the back of her hand, "Gloating is not attractive."  
  
"I know, I know," he says, bending down to nuzzle her hair at the top of her head, "Won’t do it again."  
  
"Yeah, right," she murmurs, stroking the hand he had on her shoulder.  
  
"Palmer, when this over, how about a salmon ladder—"  
  
"Showdown?" Barry interrupts excitedly, "I’m in!"  
  
"You cheat, Barry," Oliver says, good-naturedly "You use the momentum from your speed to propel yourself up and down the ladder, which is not the point."  
  
"Since when did you become a salmon ladder expert?" Barry complains, smiling.  
  
"Uh… ever since I could do it for two hours straight, every day, seven days a week," Oliver responds.  
  
"He could do that?" Barry confirms with Felicity.  
  
"Yeah," she nods and murmurs, "Hard to get any work done during those times…"  
  
Oliver smirks and winks at her. She slaps his chest again.  
  
"So, two hours straight, huh?" Ray muses out loud, "I’ve never been able to do that. But I’m willing to try."  
  
"Good," Oliver says, stretching his hand out to Ray, "After all this is over, we’ll train on the salmon ladder."  
  
Ray clasps Oliver’s outstretched hand, “You got yourself a deal.”  
  
Before they could discuss more exercise routines, Maseo steps into the basement.  
  
"She wants to see you, Oliver."  
  
—————  
  
Thea is still sitting on the floor where Maseo left her, her knees to her chest, and her forehead resting on her knees.  
  
Oliver thinks she looks like the pre-teen that was left behind when he got on the Queen’s Gambit.  
  
"Thea?" he calls out to her in soft voice.  
  
She lifts her head, her face tear-streaked, “I’m sorry, Ollie.”  
  
"Shh, shh," he whispers, kneeling beside her to take her into his arms, "It will be okay, Thea. We’ll get through this together. Shh, shh. I love you, Thea."  
  
She doesn’t speak as she sobs harder. After everything she’s done, after all the horrible things she’s thought of him to justify her lies and betrayal, she didn’t deserve his love.

Oliver can feel his shirt getting wet from her tears.  
  
This was the last thing he wanted for her. He wanted to protect her from this. So much so that he sacrificed his own life just so she would never find out what Malcolm Merlyn has done to her. He accepts now that he had done her a disservice by keeping things from her.

It was time for the truth. To give her what he’s demanded of her.  
  
"I’m The Arrow, Thea."


	9. Part 9 (Team Arrow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The League of Assassins begin their siege on Starling City.

"The League of Assassins have been spotted by the docks, according A.R.G.U.S.," Cisco announces to everyone. As they gather in the main living just before sunset.  
  
"Just outside Verdant, according the SCPD," Caitlin adds.  
  
"They’re being very obvious, not trying to too hard to keep hidden," Felicity says.  
  
"So, it’s a trap," Digg suggests.  
  
"A trap or a diversion," Felicity answers.  
  
"You’re right," Talia nods at Digg and Felicity, "The way my father’s assassins attack is always with the use diversionary tactics to centralise efforts, followed by at least two covert back-ups to surround their enemies. And a final one to strike at the heart of their foes."  
  
"Does A.R.G.U.S. have eyes and targets on ones that have made themselves visible?" Oliver turns to Lyla.  
  
"Yes, we’re ready to strike on your signal," Lyla responds, "Amanda is in the head quarters monitoring the situation. She will command the strikes on the League bases and Nanda Parbat. Our agents are in position, and are ready to move as soon as the fighting starts here."  
  
"For Starling, we have A.R.G.U.S. attack first, then when the covert back up shows up, we hit them from behind," Digg says.  
  
"Then, if need be, we can send a third strike force to help everyone out," Lyla offers.  
  
"A wave of strikes," Talia says in approval, "That just may be enough to overpower the League."  
  
"And we’ll keep monitoring the chatter for hints on their final strike," Felicity says, "Caitlin, Cisco and I will coordinate with A.R.G.U.S. and the SCPD as well."  
  
"And Malcolm Merlyn?" Laurel asks.  
  
"I think we can be sure that he will take advantage of the fighting going on to either leave or make a move," Felicity responds, "We need to be ready for anything when it comes to Malcolm. I’m still hoping the League will deal with him instead."  
  
"And, if they don’t?" Laurel insists.  
  
"Don’t worry, Laurel, he won’t get away this time," Digg assures, "We’ll make sure of it."  
  
"Very well," Talia agrees, "Positions?"  
  
Oliver nods to Digg, who says, “In the docks: Maseo, Atom, Arsenal, Wildcat, Black Canary and Bronze Tiger. At Verdant: Arrow, Flash, Talia, Deadshot and myself. Lyla will command the ARGUS agents on the ground by the docks. We will meet Bronze Tiger and Deadshot in their assigned locations.”  
  
"We have seven from our league to contribute to each group," Talia says, "We will deploy them on site. The rest will stay as back-up."  
  
"Good," Oliver says, "We head out in intervals starting in fifteen minutes."  
  
"We will head out first," Maseo says, "With whomever will be ready in fifteen minutes."  
  
"I’ll join you," Ray says, "After I check the basement walls. That shouldn’t take that long."  
  
"I will help you," Maseo offers, as the two men leave the living room.  
  
"I think things will go faster, if I help," Barry says, rushing towards the basement.  
  
"All right," Oliver nods, "Suit up and get ready. And remember, we only go for the lethal option when we have no choice."  
  
—————  
  
"Ollie, I want to join the fight," Thea announces as soon as everyone left to prepare themselves for the night’s battle.   
  
She had been silent as the team discussed the plans for the evening. But now that only Oliver, Felicity, Digg and Roy were left, she speaks up.  
  
"Thea, I want you to stay away from the fighting," Oliver sighs, moving away from his position beside Felicity to step closer to Thea.  
  
"I’m good, Ollie! You know I’m good! And I want to help," Thea pleads, "I have to help …"  
  
"Thea…" Oliver says helplessly, "You can help in another way."  
  
"But I can fight! I have skills!" Thea objects.  
  
"Thea," Felicity interrupts in a firm voice, "Do you know what kind of distraction you’ll be to Oliver, to Roy, and therefore to most of those out in the field tonight?"  
  
"What?" Thea asks, turning to Felicity.  
  
"Look, I know you’ve got combat skills, Your father has trained you well," Felicity insists, "But you have just been through something traumatic. You will need time to recover from finding out the truth. And it’s never a good idea to go out into battle with conflicted emotions."  
  
"That’s the easiest way to get yourself killed," Digg adds, standing behind Felicity in support, "And knowing that you have high emotions going out into the field, do you think Oliver and Roy would be able to give one hundred percent of their focus on the fight? Now, will you go with Sin where it’s safe?"  
  
Thea looks to Oliver and Roy, who both nod at her sadly in confirmation of Felicity’s and Digg’s words.  
  
Oliver pulls Thea close and drops a kiss on the top of her head, “Some other day, Thea. We’ll fight as team some other day. Not today.”  
  
"You promise?" Thea asks in a small voice, clutching her brother’s arm, "I have so much to make up for, and I want to help."  
  
Oliver smiles at her softly as he pulls away, “I look forward to it.”  
  
——————  
  
Oliver was already dressed in his green leather pants, boots and his black Under Armour full-length compression shirt, when he goes and looks for Felicity in the basement. He had his hooded jacket, mask and gloves in his hands as he walked in. As soon as she saw him half-dressed in his Arrow suit, she gives him a tense smile and proceeds to ignore him as she focused on the task at hand.  
  
That only lasts for about three seconds though. Felicity, being Felicity, sensed something wrong with him.  
  
She stands up from her chair with a nod to Caitlin and Cisco before heading towards where he was standing.  
  
"What’s wrong?" she asks, hand stroking his arm.  
  
"There’s something I didn’t tell you about my time in the forest," he admits, unable to look her in the eye. He scared about what he could turn into in battle, memories of waking up to a mass of dead, bloody, dismembered assassins at his feet.  
  
Felicity leads him up the stairs so they can speak away from everyone else.  
  
"What happened?" she asks as soon as they are in his father’s old study.  
  
Oliver tells her about the attack in the forest and how he woke up after murdering seven assassins by himself.  
  
"What if I go berserk like that out there?" he growls, "What if I can’t tell friend from foe?"  
  
"How about you skip the hand-to-hand combat for now? Bring more arrows?" Felicity suggests, stroking his face, "I have your entire arsenal of arrows here. We can load your bike and the van with about five hundred arrows, and you can strike at the League members from a distance. Would that help?"  
  
He nods, and pulls her close for an embrace.  
  
"That’s a good idea, Ms. Smoak," Maseo says from the entrance of the study, "I apologise, if I eavesdropped on your private conversation."  
  
"It’s Felicity," she smiles at Maseo as she pulls away from Oliver. Oliver had told them all about what Maseo has done for him, in Hong Kong and after Ra’s Al Ghul defeated Oliver. She will always be grateful to this man.   
  
"Felicity," he bows to her, "That was the name he called out as he woke from death."  
  
Felicity smiles and nods but says nothing in response as Oliver nuzzles his face in her hair from behind her.  
  
"As I was saying, the idea to load your vehicles with as many arrows is a good one," Maseo says, "And we must definitely do that, not just for you, Oliver, but for all of us who can draw a bow. But I believe you don’t need to worry about close combat, Oliver."  
  
"Why?"   
  
"One of the known effects of the Lazarus Pit is insanity. If one uses it when one is hardly injured, or when one uses it repeatedly, the effect on the mind is more permanent," Maseo explains, "But, if, like you, it is used on someone on the brink of death, and only once, then the effect is temporary."  
  
"Are you sure?" Oliver confirms.  
  
"How have your nightmares been?" Talia asks from the doorway.  
  
"Less intense since the forest," Oliver answers.  
  
"Less intense since you were attacked, more precisely?" Talia raises an eyebrow.  
  
Oliver nods, and then looks at Felicity, “I thought it was sleeping with you.”  
  
Felicity smiles and whispers, “Don’t think you can get out of what we agreed on this morning.”  
  
Oliver draws her closer to him, “Never.”  
  
"You couldn’t have told me all this before you left me in the forest?" Oliver turns back to Maseo and Talia, disbelief in his voice.  
  
"We were not sure what the effects would be on you," Talia responds, "It varies. Some people are not able to withstand the effects, or even the process of waking up from death."  
  
"We couldn’t risk our companions," Maseo adds with an apologetic bow.  
  
Oliver nods at them in forgiveness and understanding. They nod back.  
  
"Very well, if all you concerns are alleviated," Talia announces, turning back to the doorway, "We are heading out to go to our assigned locations."  
  
Maseo bows towards Felicity, “Good luck.”  
  
————  
  
Oliver spends the last thirty minutes he has before he goes off to Verdant  in the basement. Felicity has gone back to her focusing on her monitors, practically ignoring him. He didn’t mind. He liked having the freedom to run his eyes over her as she worked. He also understood where her cold professionalism was coming from.   
  
_His girl was scared. For him._  
  
And given that he was dead as far as she was concerned twenty-four hours ago, it was completely understandable.  
  
"Hey," he calls out softly to Felicity, his hand tilting her chin so she could face him, when he had about ten minutes left before he had to go.  
  
She turns to him with sad eyes, her bottom lip, trembling, “You’re going?”  
  
He pulls her up from her chair for an embrace, an arm around her shoulder, the other around her lower back, burying his face on her neck, nuzzling the strands of blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail. She wraps her arms around his waist tightly, fingers grasping the back of his shirt, her face in the middle of his chest.  
  
"Don’t die," she murmurs against the cloth of his shirt, her breath warm on the skin beneath, "I know exactly how that feels now, and I don’t want to endure that again."  
  
"Right back at you," he sighs against her neck, breathing her in. Then he moves loosens the arm around her shoulders to grasp her nape to pull her up on her tip toes, as he bends his neck towards her, for a kiss.  
  
It’s soft and wet and lusty, his tongue stroking her bottom lip before gaining entrance to her mouth as the kiss deepens, their hold on each other tightening.  
  
They pull away from each other just as they reach the point of no return. Just as the kiss gets to the point where they would let the city burn so they continue kissing.  
  
He keeps his lips on her, lingering, reveling in her stuttered breath against his, before giving her a final peck.  
  
"When this is all over," he whispers, lips brushing hers, "We are going to spend half a day kissing, and the other half … doing more than kissing. Are you in?"  
  
She chuckles silently as she nods, “I’m in. Forever.”  
  
He closes his eyes again, and sighs, “Forever. I love you.”  
  
"I love you," she returns, squeezing his waist tightly for a second before pulling away from him, "Now, go show Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins why it’s a bad idea to mess with Team Arrow." She pats his chest as she musters the bravest smile she can find in herself.  
  
"I think you’ve already shown them that," he says, smiling softly at her, as he dons on the rest of his Arrow suit.  
  
"Well, then finish it," she answers confidently, before standing on her tip toes to give him a final peck.  
  
"See you later," he says as they pull away.  
  
"Later," she murmurs, watching him go, her fingers doing the nervous tick that she seems to have inherited from Oliver.  
  
"I have to admit," Cisco voice startles her from behind, "That was kinda hot."  
  
Felicity turns to Cisco and Caitlin, whom she completely forgot was in the basement with her, with a blush and wide eyes.  
  
"Don’t worry, Felicity," Caitlin assures her, "I stopped Cisco from taking a video."  
  
"It was supposed to be for educational purposes!" Cisco exclaims, "For science!"  
  
—————-  
  
"Our team is just about the finish up with the League," Cisco says, "I can’t believe they had to go through about a hundred of those assassins tonight!"  
  
"Amanda has said that the strikes against Nanda Parbat and League bases have all been successful," Caitlin adds, "Looks like our plan worked!"  
  
"Yeah, but we haven’t found where Merlyn is, or where the final strike from the League will be," Felicity states.  
  
"Oh, Ms. Smoak," a voice sounds from the stairs leading to the basement, "It seems that I’ve found you instead."  
  
All three of them turn swiftly around to see Malcolm Merlyn sneering at them. Behind him were Nyssa and black-haired man with a scraggly but distinguished face, who says, “And this is the strike at heart.”  
  
 _Ra’s Al Ghul._


	10. Part 10 (Team Arrow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resolution + epilogue

"Behind you, Arrow!" Talia warns as she spins on her left leg to deliver a thorough ax kick on her opponent.  
  
Oliver turns extends his hand and arms upwards, towards the back, to catch the assassin attacking him from behind to flip him over his shoulder to the ground. He finishes his attacker off with a well placed punch in his solar plexus, rendering the man unconscious.  
  
They were in the final moments of the battle with the League of Assassins. The team at the docks had quickly realised that they had less assassins to deal with, so Atom and Arsenal quickly made their way to Verdant, where the larger contingent of assassins were at.   
  
According Felicity, over the comms, the docks had been secured and all League of Assassins members either unconscious and tied up, or dead, in that location. A.R.G.U.S. and the SCPD had ful control of the area. Wildcat and Black Canary had opted to stay put until the docks were cleared.  
  
They were down to their last twenty assassins when the emergency signal from the basement blared in his ears.  
  
 _Fuck! Merlyn and Ra’s Al Ghul’s final strike in the mansion._  
  
"Oliver!" Digg calls out to him, clutching his ears, he shoots an assassin on the knee.  
  
"I know!" Oliver screams, quickly removing his earpiece, as he punches another assassin in the larynx, "Talia, send the signal to your men. Merlyn and the final strike are in the mansion."  
  
"Done," Talia confirms, executing a perfect sequence of side-, knee- and roundhouse kicks on three opponents at once, "They will be able to buy us time. Maseo is on his way."  
  
Behind Digg, he sees Roy signal to Ray. Ray raises his thumbs up then both his hands open in front of him. Ten minutes.  
  
"Barry!" Oliver shouts, "Run!"  
  
"Go, Arrow!" Arsenal cries, "We’ve got this. We’ll follow us soon as we’re done here."  
  
Oliver nods at Roy and then Digg before running to his Ducati to make his way to the mansion.   
  
"Hop on," he commands Talia she rushes towards him.  
  
—————  
  
"You don’t seem to be surprised, Ms. Smoak? Neither are your colleagues," Malcolm frowns.  
  
She glares at Merlyn in hatred before Felicity looks behind her to check on Caitlin and Cisco, they looked scared. She gives them comforting, “It will be okay.” glances. She was shaking herself, being confronted by three killers, but she would die before they see any trace of her nerves and fear.  
  
She need to buy time to ensure Caitlin and Cisco’s safety. Also hers. To make sure they achieve their plans.  
  
She turns to Nyssa, “So, it seems that all your talk of honour is mere hypocrisy. You have no problems teaming up with a mass murderer whom you claimed dishonoured the League law. And what of your vow to avenge Sara? Lip service, it seems. You walk behind the man who arranged her murder.”  
  
Nyssa meets Felicity’s eyes head-on, her jaws clenched and her eyes hard.  
  
"Malcolm Merlyn’s blood debt was paid in full when Oliver Queen challenged me to trial by combat for Merlyn’s transgressions. We have put the past behind us and will continue to work as equals from this moment forward," Ra’s states in a calm voice, "And you will address us with respect, Ms. Smoak. This will be your only warning."  
  
"What do you want then?" Felicity asks, tilting her chin up in pride.  
  
"You are the one that Oliver Queen loves?" Ra’s asks, "I can see why. You have the spirit of a warrior. I am of half mind to train you to replace the soldiers that you have caused me today. It would be a joy to harness that spirit into deadly purpose."  
  
"How did this happy reunion come about then? What did you promise the Al Ghul’s this time, Merlyn?" she scoffs, "You’ve already dangled your only child left. You’ve already offered her brother. What else have you got left?"  
  
From the corner of her eye, she sees Ra’s motion to Nyssa with two fingers raised. Faster than she can realise what that gesture meant, Nyssa had rushed to her and struck her face with a backhand slap. A strong backhand slap. Felicity could feel the blood gushing in her mouth.  
  
She could hear Caitlin gasp behind her and Cisco trying to silence Caitlin.   
  
"You were warned to address us with respect," Nyssa growls. Felicity raises her eyes to meet the other woman’s, and mouths, "Hypocrite."  
  
Nyssa drops her gaze and steps behind her father, her jaw clenched in anger.  
  
 _Bide your time, bide your time_ , she thinks to herself.   
  
Swallowing, she turns to address Malcolm again, “Since I know I’m not going to come out of this alive. Will you tell me how you were able to get the League on your side again? I hate mysteries. They bug me. They need to be solved.”  
  
"You," Malcolm responds smugly, "I offered them your location. You see, you’ve made quite an impression with the stunt you pulled on the internet, posting our pictures, leaking information about us. Quite an accomplishment, really. We pride ourselves in being able to exist in the shadows. Your … actions against us make that much difficult. But you made a mistake."  
  
"A mistake?" Felicity frowns.  
  
"You were over-confident in your skills. But there is always someone better than you, I hope that’s a life lesson you will learn from this. I—"  
  
"Hired a hacker calling himself, The Calculator?" Felicity finishes for him.  
  
"How did—"  
  
"I know about that?" she says, "I was on to him from the first key stroke he made to find me. I’ve had scripts on loop to lead him to one server to the other with a final script that led him where I wanted him to go. That got him to conclude what I wanted him to conclude."  
  
"And that is?"  
  
"That you can get your money back. That all your money was siphoned into one bank account that you can have The Calculator hack to get your money back. Five hundred three, Merlyn, five hundred three," she explains, "Oh, and for him to tell you where I am. That’s the other thing."  
  
At Merlyn’s shocked look, Felicity turns her attention to Ra’s Al Ghul, “We’ve also found the exact location of Nanda Parbat, and most of the League’s bases around the world. As of ten minutes ago, our allies have control over those locations. Your assassins have been neutralised.”   
  
Ra’s face pales, Felicity addresses Nyssa, “I told you, I will bide my time. I will do what I do best. I will gather allies. And I will avenge the death Malcolm Merlyn, your father and your League have brought upon Oliver Queen. And this is it.”  
  
At the confused and flummoxed look shared among their enemies, Caitlin pipes up, “Mice, meet cheese.”  
  
Then the side wall, the one nearest the front entrance to the mansion, explodes.  
  
Actually, if one were to ask Ray Palmer, it imploded. It collapsed unto itself, spewing no debris. A safe way to demolish things. One of Ray Palmer’s inventions. Patent-pending.  
  
It didn’t matter, if the wall exploded or imploded, what mattered to Felicity was what behind the collapsed wall.  
  
Oliver. Barry. Talia. Maseo. And six more assassins from Talia’s group.  
  
—————-  
  
The first order of business was to get Caitlin, Cisco and Felicity out of harm’s way. That’s what Barry was for. He carried them out of the basement one at a time in less than one minute, dropping them off just outside the mansion in a van that Lyla was driving.   
  
"You guys all right?" Lyla asks as soon as all three of them were in the van.  
  
"Yeah, that was amazing!!!" Cisco crows, "You were so effing bad ass, Felicity!"  
  
"Mice, meet cheese?" Felicity says to Caitlin, smiling, then changes her mind when she feels pain in her cheek.  
  
"Wow, she hit you hard," Caitlin says, reaching out to touch Felicity’s cheek.  
  
"It’s nothing," Felicity responds, reaching for the tablet that she stored in the glove compartment of the van, "Need to monitor the mansion. I need to know what’s going on."  
  
——————  
  
"Greetings, father, sister," Talia says, standing in front of Ra’s and Nyssa Al Ghul with Maseo at her back and the six other members of her group behind them.  
  
"You perished!" Nyssa exclaims, "It is impossible that you are standing in front of me!"  
  
"Yes, I did, at the hands of the Great Demon’s Head," Talia responds, "Because he was afraid of me."  
  
"Afraid of you?" Ra’s asks in a calm voice, "Why would I be afraid of weakling like you?"  
  
"Because your Lazarus Pit is losing its potency, and you know I have control over more pits than you do," Talia smiles grimly, "You have become so addicted to your own immortality that you cannot abide by anyone having more potential for it than yourself. Tell me, father, how many times in a week do you bathe in your Lazarus Pit in Nanda Parbat? And how long does your vitality last?"  
  
"You lie!" Ra’s screams, "You do not have more than I do! You lie!"  
  
"Do you have one that can still bring people back from the dead?" Talia raises an eyebrow at him.  
  
"No, none of those exist anymore! You liar!" Ra’s shouts.  
  
"She’s not lying," Oliver says from behind Talia.  
  
Nyssa gasps at the sight of Oliver Queen alive. Oliver ignores her, and turns to Talia, “Have you got this under control?”  
  
Talia nods, “Go after Malcolm Merlyn, Oliver Queen. Be well.”  
  
———————  
  
Oliver finds Malcolm in the main living room, sitting on the couch as if waiting for him.  
  
All around the mansion, the assassins that Ra’s Al Ghul brought with him were fighting with members of their team. Barry was zipping around the mansion, removing weapons from the villains and displacing them everywhere. Talia’s group were engaging League of Assassins. He notes that Digg, Roy and Ray have arrived and were assisting those standing with them.  
  
"Glad you could join me," Malcolm greets.  
  
"Are you ready to surrender?"  
  
"I told you, Oliver, in order to stop me, you will have to kill me," Malcolm says calmly, "But before we start posturing with each other, and all the threats, can we take a moment to talk about your Felicity Smoak? Brilliant mind. Clever. I think Ra’s offered her a job with the League, and she dismissed him. I have never seen such steel in anyone. I’m very impressed."  
  
"Finish your point, Merlyn," Oliver growls.  
  
"I am aware that she is the one to blame for the situation I have found myself in," Malcolm states, "And if you don’t stop me, I will come for her. Let me tell you, what I made you go through will be nothing compared to how I will make her suffer. Do—"  
  
"Dad!" Thea cries from the doorway, sword at the ready.  
  
"Thea!" Oliver shouts, "I told you to stay away!"  
  
"It seems like you think you have some influence left as far as my daughter is concerned," Malcolm smirks, getting to his feet, "Thea, come stand by your father."  
  
Thea calms down and obediently stands on the side of Malcolm. As soon as she’s standing on Malcolm’s side, she faces Oliver with a blank face.  
  
"Thea…" Oliver murmurs despondently.   
  
"I doubt that you will attack with such precious collateral damage beside me," Malcolm says confidently, "Thea, you will stay beside me until we leave this place. Do you understand?"  
  
Thea nods. Malcolm smiles at her and turns his attention back to Oliver, “We will be taking our leave now.”  
  
Oliver whose eyes are still on Thea sees her roll her eyes and wink at him a second before she attacks Malcolm.  
  
Quickly getting his bearings, he helps Thea battle Malcolm.   
  
"You promised we’d fight together soon, brother," Thea says.  
  
"Yeah, but not this soon, Speedy," Oliver responds.  
  
Malcolm is a formidable fighter. Using two swords that he pulled out from a scabbard behind his back, he attacks Oliver and Thea at the same time. They each take one side of Malcolm, dividing his attention and focus.  
  
Malcolm won’t have it. He rushes towards Oliver in an offensive, keeping his left sword defensively against Thea. Oliver slashes his own sword against Malcolm’s, trying to stop the onslaught of sword strikes.   
  
Malcolm backs Oliver in a corner, raising his sword in a killing move, but in a split second, he spins towards Thea who was unprepared. Thea falls to the floor, sword held defensively in front of her chest, avoiding Malcolm’s thrusts.   
  
Oliver rushes towards them, grabbing Malcolm’s left arm, in between his own. He can feel Malcolm’s sword nick the area behind his right ear. He ignores the pain, and breaks Malcolm’s arm.  
  
Malcolm screams in agony, falling to his knees.  
  
Thea gets up from the floor and raises her sword towards her father, “Are you able to endure pain now, father?”  
  
Before she can strike, Oliver tackles Malcolm to the ground, disarming him. As fast as he could, he takes small arrows from his thigh quiver, pushing the arrows on Malcolm’s forearms quickly and deeply.  
  
Immobilised, Malcolm stops fighting.   
  
Oliver gets on his feet and stands beside Thea.  
  
"What did you do?" Malcolm cries.  
  
"I’ve severed your median nerve," Oliver says, "You will never be able to raise your arm for anything again. Not even to lift a spoon to your mouth. Or use a pen. Your fighting days are over."  
  
"Ollie…" Thea looks at her brother in awe.  
  
"I can’t have his blood on your hands, Thea. He’s done enough damage," Oliver says.  
  
Thea wraps her arms around his waist and cries, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”  
  
———————  
  
By the time the rest of the League of Assassins were immobilised, Talia, Maseo, Nyssa and Ra’s Al Ghul were gone.  
  
The only sign of what had transpired between them was a note stuck to the wall in the basement with an arrow.  
  
 _"This was always a family matter to me. I have regained control of the League, and with my sister, we will bring it back to its original purpose as the League of Shadows. We will build a home somewhere else. We will bring honour back to our family and our traditions._  
  
 _Ra’s Al Ghul will never be harm you or any of your loved ones again._  
  
 _You may consider us your allies, and call upon us, if there is a need._  
  
 _Thank you._  
  
 _Talia Al Ghul”_  
  
————

**Epilogue**  
  
"So, what now?" Ray asks turning his eyes around the damaged former Queen Mansion, the Atom’s lair.  
  
They were all gathered in the main living room, sitting around the different couches. They were all worse for wear, but no major injuries.  
  
The only somewhat serious one was Roy, who had taken an arrow to the knee just before they finished defeating the assassins in Verdant. The injury made Oliver, Felicity and Digg laugh their asses off, much to Roy’s annoyance.   
  
"A.R.G.U.S. is processing Nanda Parbat and all the other bases," Lyla says, holding an ice pack to Digg’s forehead. An opponent swept his feet from under him from behind, causing him to hit his forehead to the ground.  
  
"They’re processing all the apprehended assassins as well," Digg adds, "At least the ones that didn’t escape to, hopefully, join Talia and her League of Shadows."  
  
"Malcolm’s been delivered to dad’s office," Laurel says, "Where the D.A. will prosecute him for what happened in the Glades."  
  
"Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you," Ted comments.  
  
"Nah, the SCPD also received information that links Malcolm to the earthquake device," Laurel casts a look at Felicity, who was tending to Oliver’s wound underneath his right ear as he examined Felicity’s split lip and bruised cheek, "Anonymously, of course."  
  
"Anonymously," Felicity agrees, absently, her full concentration on Oliver’s wound.  
  
"You did it," Ray says to Felicity.  
  
"Hmm?" she turns her eyes on him.  
  
"You got Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s Al Ghul, and the League of Assassins. Just like you said," Ray clarifies.  
  
"We did it," Felicity smiles, slowly meeting everyone’s eyes, "We all did it."  
  
"You’re remarkable," Oliver smiles in awe, lifting his left hand to stroke the bruise on her left cheek from where Nyssa hit her. He vowed to pay Nyssa back when he sees her for this.  
  
"Thank you for remarking on it," she blushes, stroking his chest.  
  
"Oh, for god’s sake!" Roy complains from his spot on the couch where he had his right legged propped up, being attended to by Caitlin and Thea.  
  
"Hush," Caitlin says, "Let them be."  
  
"They don’t seem to care," Barry chirps in, chuckling.  
  
"Maybe I can still take that video," Cisco jokes, "For science."  
  
The Central City folks laugh, causing Roy to roll his eyes.  
  
"Do we continue this?" Ted asks, while the Central City folks chuckle to themselves.  
  
"Continue what?" Ray frowns.  
  
"Protecting Starling City," Laurel answers.  
  
"Are you sure?" Oliver confirms, "It’s not an easy life."  
  
"Tell me about it," Digg murmurs, good-naturedly.  
  
"I think I’d like to try," Laurel says.  
  
"Me, too," Ray agrees. Then adds, "Maybe we can get some advice from the veterans on how to do this."  
  
"Well, first, you have to have lair," Felicity pipes up.  
  
"Not this one," Digg adds.  
  
"Actually, it might make more sense to decentralise the base of operations," Felicity thinks aloud.  
  
"Won’t that get confusing?" Ted asks.  
  
"No, it doesn’t make sense for all the vigilantes to be seen, or tracked, to be coming from the same location all the time," Digg answers.  
  
"Yeah, remember Crazy Pants?" Roy chimes in, "She got someone to track where the Arrow was always coming from."  
  
"Crazy Pants?" Thea asks.  
  
"She called herself, Cupid," Digg explains.  
  
"And she was batshit crazy," Felicity chuckles, "For the Arrow."  
  
"You had a fan?" Laurel’s eyebrows raise.  
  
Oliver shakes his head and rolls his eyes at her, making Digg, Felicity, Roy, Thea and Laurel to laugh.  
  
"So, anyway, no central base then," Oliver says, getting everyone back on topic.  
  
"But we need to have centralised communications," Digg suggests, "To coordinate things."  
  
"I can help with that!" Felicity exclaims.  
  
"I think they were hoping you’d be the centralised communications hub," Roy comments.  
  
"Oh? Of course," Felicity smiles.  
  
"Yeah, but later," Oliver states, standing up from the couch and extending his hand to help Felicity up. Once they’re standing, he wraps an arm around Felicity’s shoulders, "You’re on your own for a week. We’re leaving. We’ll call you."  
  
"Why?" Ray frowns, his mind busy at the possibility of continuing with the work they were doing for Starling. _Oh, the tech he could get everyone to use!_  
  
"Palmer, I just came back from the dead. A process that took four and half weeks. Immediately after, my rescuers leave me in a forest in the middle of winter to fend and survive for myself," Oliver explains with a laugh, "Then I drove for almost two days straight to Starling after I got out of that forest. Then you all know what we’ve been through these past two days. I kinda need a nap. A long one."  
  
He whispers to Felicity, “I also owe you half a day of kissing, and another half-day for more.” Felicity blushes and smiles as she stares at him.  
  
"But you didn’t you just come back from the dead? Didn’t that count as a long nap?" Ted interjects jokingly, interrupting the staring contest that was going on between Oliver and Felicity. Which, Ted had to admit, was kinda making everyone uncomfortable.  
  
The room falls into silence as everyone looks in shock at Ted. Everyone remembering what it was like when they heard that the Arrow and Oliver Queen was dead.   
  
Then Felicity starts laughing. Hard.   
  
Digg joins her. Then, Roy.   
  
Soon everyone was hysterical with laughter.   
  
As his eyes travel across the room, Oliver realises that the burden of Starling City no longer rested on him and his team alone. They had allies now. They had friends. They had family.   
  
Looking at Felicity, he thinks, _We could have everything now. We could live._

**Author's Note:**

> This entire work was originally published on Tumblr over the course of four days.  
> http://outoftheclosetshipper.tumblr.com/search/after+death


End file.
